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The Sabbath. 



CHARLES ELLIOTT, 

PROFESSOR OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE AND EXEGESIS IN THE PRES- 
BYTERIAN THEOLOGICAL SEMINART OF THE 
NORTH-WEST, CHICAGO, ILL. 



PHILADELPHIA: 
PRESBYTEKIAN BOAED OP PUBLICATION, 

No. 821 Chest-vut Street. 



■^ 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1867, by 

THE TRUSTEES OF THE 

PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the 

Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 



zl> 5/y 



Westcott & Thomson. 

STKKEOTYPKRS, PHILAftdk^ 







PKEFACE. 



The only apology for tlie publication of this little volume 
is tlie importance of the subject that it discusses. The 
Sabbath is an institution intimately connected with the 
highest interests of religion, and consequently with all that 
is most precious to humanity. It also contributes to man's 
physical comfort and secular prosperity. Every attempt, 
therefore, to weaken its obligation should be resisted ; and 
every false view promulgated respecting it should be refuted. 
If this little treatise shall, in anyway, contribute to that end, 
to Him be the praise, whose voice proclaimed from the top 
of Sinai : " Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy." 

The Author. . 
3 



CONTENTS. 



PAQB 
PREFACE 3 



PAKT I. 

The Law op the Sabbath has its Foundation in our'Nature. 
CHAPTER I. 

SECTION I. 

Meaning of the term — The Law of the Sabbath founded in our constitu- 
tion, physical, intellectual, and moral 9 

SECTION 11. 
The Physical or Physiological Advantages of the Sabbath 13 

SECTION III. 
The Intellectual Advantages of the Sabbath 19 

SECTION IV. 
The Moral and Spiritual Advantages of the Sabbath 23 

CHAPTER II. 
The Social Advantages op the Sabbath. 

SECTION I. 

The Family 27 

1 * 5 



tl 6 CONTENTS. 

SECTION II. 

PAOB 
The Community 34 

SECTION III. 
Summary of the preceding sections 38 

PART II. 

SECTION I. 
Institution of the Sabbath A 

SECTION II. 
The Sabbath a Moral Institution 48 

SECTION III. 
Change of the Sabbath from the Seventh day of the week to the First.... m 

SECTION IV. 
The Perpetuity of the Sabbath 66 

SECTION V. 
Summary 74 

PART III. 

The Sanctification op the Sabbath. 

SECTION I. 
Preliminary Observations T6 

SECTION II. 
M 
1 1 The Sabbath is to be kept in such a way as to perpetuate the Knowledge 

and Worship of JehOYah. »- 7d 



CONTENTS. 7 

SECTION III. 

PAGE 
The Sabbath is to be Sanctified by attending to the Private Exercises of 
Religion 85 

SECTION IV. 

The Sabbath is to be Sanctified by Bodilj' Rest, and by intermitting such 
Intellectual Employments as are not immediately connected with the 
Bervices of Religion 90 

SECTION V. 
The Duty of the state -with reference to the Sanctiflcation of the Sabbath. 94 

SECTION VI. 
C!oucluding Hemarks 106 



THE SABBATH 



PART I. 



THE LAW OF THE SABBATH HAS ITS FOUNDATION 
IN OUPv NATURE. 

CHAPTER I. 

SECTION I. 

MEANING OF THE TERM — THE LAW OF THE SABBATH FOUNDED 
IN OUR CONSTITUTION, PHYSICAL, INTELLECTUAL, AND 
MORAL. 

The word Sabbath Is of Hebrew origin, and sig- 
nifies rest. It is not synonymous with Sunday. 
The former designates that day of the seven, which 
is set apart for rest and worship; the latter is the 
name of the first day of the week. This distinction 
is observed in the Homilies of the established 
Church of England. " So, if we will be the chil- 
dren of our heavenly Father, we must be careful to 
keep the Christian Sabbath day, which is the Sun- 
day." The distinction seems to be that the term 
Sabbath is applied to the institution of sacred rest, 
and that Sunday is the name of the day. Notwith- 



10 THE SABBATH. 

standing this distinction, they are often used sy- 
nonymously, both in the United States and in 
Enghind. It is better, however, to retain the use 
of Sabbath, or to employ the designation, Lord's 
Day, as it suggests the idea of holy time. 

Our Lord said to the Pharisees when they asked 
him why his disciples did that which was not law- 
ful on the Sabbath day, by plucking the ears of 
corn in the fields through which they were passing: 
" The Sabbath w^as made for man, and not man for 
the Sabbath.'' 

These w^ords teach that the Sabbath was designed 
for man's advantage, and imply that its proper 
observance is not detrimental to his best interests, 
but highly productive of them ; and this being the 
case they further imply that there is an adaptation 
of the Sabbatical institution to man's nature. 
" The Sabbath was made for man." It was designed 
to meet his physical, intellectual, and spiritual wants. 
Its law is founded in his constitution. This we 
will readily perceive if we consider the wants which 
the institution of the Sabbath meets. All men 
need rest for their bodies, and it would be a diffi- 
cult matter to prove that a seventh portion of our 
time is too much. Now, were there no day set 
apart for cessation from labour, many would be 
deprived of that periodical relaxation from their 
regular routine of duty, the uninterrupted continu- 
ance of W'hich exhausts the bodily powei's, and thus 
impairs health. The same thing might be affirmed 



THE SABBATH. 11 

of those lower animals that are used as beasts oF 
draught and burden, for they require rest as well as 
man. 

Analogies to this law obtain throughout inani- 
mate nature. There are seasons of rest for the 
soil and for trees. Winter locks the earth in its 
embrace, but its frosts and snows prepare fresh 
nutriment for the flowers of spring. The soil is 
thus preserved from exhaustion by a period of an- 
nual repose. 

Man is an intellectual being, and needs know- 
ledge, especially, knowledge of God, of himself, 
and of his relations to God. To acquire this 
knowledge some portion of time is necessary ; but 
without a Sabbath many would be deprived of the 
opportunity of acquiring it, and consequently would 
remain in ignorance of their highest duty. By 
affording this opportunity to every one, the Sabbath 
meets man's highest intellectual wants, and thus 
shows its adaptation to his intellectual nature. 

Man is also possessed of conscience and will, and 
is influenced by motives. He is an immortal being, 
placed in this world to prepare for a higher and 
better state of existence. To apply spiritual truths 
to his conscience and make them motives to influ- 
ence his will, he must have time to withdraw his 
mind from secular employments, and fix it upon 
these truths, and to place himself under the influ- 
ence of things that are unseen and eternal. No- 
thing is so favourable to this as the quiet of a well- 



12 THE SABBATH. 

spent Sabbath, when the serenity, peace, and solem- 
nity of the heavenly world seem to invest all things 
around us. The very air seems to breathe of 
heaven. The eye seems to pierce deeper into the 
blue expanse above us. The sun seems clothed in 
fresh glory, and when the stars of evening rise, 
they seem to shine with additional lustre. This 
may be all imagination. It doubtless is; but it is 
the imagination of one who has been conversing 
with God. It is not the air, the heavens, the sun, 
and the stars that are changed ; but the change is 
in the mind, and it sees all things beautiful. A 
day that affords an opportunity for those elevated 
contemplations which, produce such a change in the 
mind, must be admirably adapted to the culture of 
man^s spiritual nature. 

We may conclude, from these observations, that 
the law of the Sabbath has its foundation in man's 
jrhysical, intellectual, and moral constitution, and 
consequently that its proper observance is produc- 
tive of his highest benefit. When we keep the 
Sabbath as it ought to be kept, we are merely act- 
ing in obedience to a law, the final end of which is 
to promote our physical, intellectual, and moral 
well-being ; and the violation of which is a viola- 
tion of that well-being. 

We have merely indicated in what way the 
Sabbath promotes our welfare, by showing that its 
law is laid in our constitution. It may be well to 
enter into detail on this point, and fortify oui-selves 



THE SABBATH. 13 

by facts. These facts are abundant, and drawn from 
a great variety of sources. 

We will first consider its advantages to man as a 
day of rest, for the purpose of invigorating the 
body, preserving it in health, and prolonging life ; 
or, in other words, its physiological advantages. 
On this point we have the concurrent testimony of 
the highest authorities. 



SECTION II. 

THE PHYSICAL, OR PHYSIOLOGICAL ADVANTAGES OF THE 
SABBATH. 

On this point the writer will make a free lise of 
some facts contained in the first number of the 
Sabbath Manual. 

In the year 1832 the British House of Commons 
appointed a committee to investigate the effects of 
labouring seven days in a week compared with those 
of labouring six, and resting one. This committee, 
composed of statesmen of the greatest eminence, 
such as Sir Robert Peel, Lord Morpeth, Sir Robert 
Inglis, Sir Andrew Agnew, and Sir Thomas Baring, 
with many others, — examined a great number of 
witnesses of various professions and employments. 
Amsng these witnesses was an acute and experienced 
physician, Dr. Farre of London. Dr. F., previous 
to tlie time of giving his testimony, had practised 
medicine betw^n thirty and forty years; and during 

2 



14 THE SABBATH. 

the early part of his life, as the physician of a 
public medical institution, had had charge of one 
of the most populous districts of London. He had 
had occasion to observe the effects of the observance 
and non-observance of the seventh as a day of rest 
during this time. He had considered its uses from 
a medical point of view, and observed its abuses as 
manifested in labour and dissipation; and his testi- 
mony, as a physician, was, that medically viewed, 
the Sabbath is a most beneficent institution. 

"As a day of rest,'' said Dr. Farre, "I view it as a 
day of compemation for the inadequate restorative 
power of the body under continued labour and excite- 
ment. A physician always has respect to the 
restorative power; because if once this be lost, his 
healing office is at end. A physician is anxious to 
preserve the balance of circulation, as necessary to 
the restorative power of the body. The ordinary 
exertions of man run down the circulation every day 
of his life ; and the first general law of his nature, 
by which God prevents man from destroying him- 
self, is the alternating of day and night, that repose 
may succeed action. But, although the night appa- 
rently equalizes the circulation, yet it does not 
sufficiently restore its balance for the attainment of 
a long life. Hence, one day in seven, by the bounty 
of Providence, is thrown in as a day of compensaiion, 
to perfect by its repose the animal system. You 
may easily," continued the Doctor, "determine this 
question, as a matter of foct, by tryrng it on beasts 



THE SABBATH. 15 

of burden. Take that fine animal, the horse, and 
work him to the full extent of his powers every- 
day in the week, or give him rest one day in seven, 
and you will soon perceive, by the superior vigour 
with which he performs his functions on the other 
six days, that his rest is necessary to his well-being. 
Man possesses a superior nature, is borne along by 
the very vigour of his mind ; so that the injury of 
continued diurnal exertion and excitement on the 
animal system is not so immediately apparent as it 
is in the brute; but in the long run he breaks down 
more suddenly ; it abridges the length of his life ; 
and that vigour of his old age, which (as to mere 
animal power) ought to be the object of his preser- 
vation." The same witness says that "researches 
in physiology, by the analogy of the working of 
Providence in nature, will show that the Divine 
commandment is not to be considered an arbitrary 
enactment, but as an appointment necessary to man." 
The celebrated Wilberforce ascribed the continu- 
ance of his life, for so long a time, under such a 
pressure of cares and labours, in no small degree, to 
his conscientious and habitual observance of the 
Sabbath. He considered it a blessed day, which 
^' allows us a precious interval wherein to pause, to 
come out from the thickets of worldly concerns, 
and give ourselves up to heavenly and spiritual 
objects. Observation and my own experience," said 
Mr. W., " have convinced me that there is a special 
blessing on a right employment of these intervals." 



16 THE SABBATU. 

DnriDsr the life of this celebrated Christian and 
statesman, Sir Samuel Romilly, Solicitor General 
of England, and Lord Ga.stlereagh, terminated their 
lives each by his own hand. The impression on 
Mr. AY's. mind was that it was the effect of continued 
wear of mind occasioned by the non-observance of 
the Sabbath on the part of these two celebrated 
men. AYhen endeavours were made to prevail upon 
the la^v}^ers of London to give up Sabbath consul- 
tation, Sir S. Romilly would not concur ; and Lord 
Castlereagh was so engrossed with politics that he 
allowed his mind no relaxation. The constant 
recurring of the same reflections dethroned his 
reason, and led to the commission of the fatal act, 
which deprived him of his life. "He was the last 
man in the world," remarked Mr. AVilberforce, 
" who appeared likely to be carried away into the 
commission of such an act; so cool, so self- 
possessed." 

In the same testimony concur such men as 
Thomas Sewall, M. D., Professor of Pathology and 
the Practice of Medicine in the Columbian College, 
Washington, D. C. ; Dr. Mussey, Professor of Sur- 
gery in the Ohio Medical College ; Dr. Harrison of 
the same institution ; Dr. Alden, of Massachusetts ; 
and the New Haven Medical Association, composed 
of twenty-five physicians, among whom were the 
professors of the medical college. 

The first of these remarks : " While I consider 
it the more important design of the iufetitutiou of 



THE SABBATH. 17 

the Sabbath, to assist in religious devotion and 
advance man's spiritual welfare, I have long held 
the opinion that one of its chief benefits has refer- 
ence to his physical and intellectual constitution ; 
affording him, as it does, one day in seven for the 
renovation of his exhausted energies of body and 
mind ; a proportion of time small enough, according 
to the results of my observation, for the accomplish- 
ment of this object." 

Dr. Mussey remarks : " The Sabbath should be 
regarded as a most benevolent institution, adapted 
ialike to the physical, mental, and moral wants of 
man. The experiment has been made with animals, 
and the value of one day's work in seven, for those 
that labour, in recruiting their energies and prolong- 
ing their activity, has been established beyond a 
doubt. In addition to constant bodily labour, the 
corroding influence of incessant mental exertion and 
solicitude cannot fail to induce premature decay, and 
to shorten life. And there cannot be a reasonable 
doubt, that under the due observance of the Sab- 
bath, life would, on the average, be prolonged more 
than one-seventh of its whole period ; that is, more 
than seven years in fifty." 

The other eminent physicians, and the New 
Haven Medical Association, express the same senti- 
ments. 

To these testimonies might be added those of 
men of all professions and employments — merchants, 
tradesmen, fishermen, men employed on steamboats 

2 * 



18 THE SABBATH. 

and public works, — who all concur in the same 
thing. 

These testimonies are not unsupported by facts. 
Interesting experiments have been made upon both 
men and animals to test the salutary nature of the 
law of the Sabbath, and they have always resulted 
in the conclusion that both require the rest of the 
sacred day. 

One of these experiments was made in a large 
flouring establishment. For a number of years the 
mills were worked seven days a week. The super- 
intendent was then changed. He ordered the men 
to stop the works at eleven o'clock on Saturday 
night, and not to start them till one o'clock on 
Monday morning, thus allowing a full Sabbath 
every week. And the same men, during the year, 
actually ground fifty thousand bushels more than 
had ever been ground, in a single year, in that 
establishment before. The men having been per- 
mitted to cleanse themselves, put on their best 
apparel, rest from worldly business, go with their 
families to the house of God, and devote the Sab- 
bath to its appropriate duties, — were more healthy, 
punctual, moral, and diligent. They lost less time 
in drinking, dissipation and quarrels. They were 
more clear-headed and whole-hearted ; knew better 
how to do things, and were more disposed to do 
them in the right way. 

Another experiment was tried on a hundred and 
twenty horses. They were employed for years, 



THE SABBATH. 19 

seven days in the week. But they became un- 
healthy, and finally died so fast that the owner 
thought it too expensive, and put them on a six 
days' arrangement. After this he was not obliged 
to replenish them one-fourth part as often as before. 
Instead of sinking continually, his horses came up 
again, and lived longer than they could have done 
on the other plan. 

A manufacturing company, which had been ac- 
customed to carry their goods to market with their 
own teams, kept them employed seven days in a 
week, as that was the time in which they could go 
to the market and return. But by permitting the 
teams to rest on the Sabbath, they found that they' 
could drive them the same distance in six days, 
that they had formerly done in seven, and with the 
same keeping preserve them in better order. 

These testimonies and facts fully show the salu- 
tary influence of the Sabbath upon the physical 
constitutions of both man and the lower animals. 
As a day of rest it is " a day of compensation for 
the inadequate restorative power of the body under 
continued labour and excitement.'^ 



SECTION III. 

THE INTELLECTUAL ADVANTAGES OF THE SABBATH. 

The mind requires repose as well as the body, 
and this repose a well-spent Sabbath affords. It is 



20 THE SABBATH. 

not necessary, in this connection, to discuss the 
question whether the mind itself becomes fatigued, 
or whether it is merely the bodily organs, through 
which it operates, that become exhausted by labour, 
and are invigorated by rest. Nor is it necessary 
for the rest of the mind that it sink into a state of 
inactivity, in which all its faculties become dormant, 
or listless. The highest refreshment to the mind is 
oftentimes furnished by directing it to something 
new, something that will relieve it from its usual 
routine of thought, and afford it an opportunity for 
the exercise of the imagination and the emotions. 
When worn out by labour, the sight of a beautiful 
^landscape, or of a lake embosomed among hills, or 
of some work of art, will rouse it from its languor 
and fatigue, and fill it with buoyant feelings and 
exhilarating delight. 

The opportunity of directing the mind to some- 
thing new is furnished by nothing so well as by the 
institution of the Sabbath. It interrupts the ordi- 
nary pursuits of man, and turns his mind to the 
contemplation of the most glorious and soul-inspi- 
ring truths within the whole range of thought. 
God, heaven, eternity, the soul and its immortal 
destinies, all that is beautiful and holy on earth, are 
thoughts strictly in unison with the sacred character 
of the day, and in fact suggested by its very insti- 
tution and end. On it God rested. It is to us a 
type of the heavenly rest, which remains for the 
people of God. And when, on this sacred day, we 



THE SABBATH. 21 

rise above the earth and see the visions of the 
Ahnighty, what inspiration do we feel ; what fresh 
vigour in the divine life, what grandeur of thought, 
what intensity of purpose do we acquire. And if 
any are mourners amidst the decay of all things 
earthly, what comfort does it inspire to have such a 
blessed opportunity to look beyond this world of 
change to that land 

" of pure delight, 

Where saints immortal reign, 
Where endless day excludes the night, 

And pleasures banish pain." 

Then such may feel, even here, the breath of its 
everlasting spring, and inhale the odour of its never 
withering flowers. 

It is true these holy and elevating influences are 
not confined to the Sabbath; but may be enjoyed 
by the Christian on other days, for God is always 
near to those that call upon him ; and the consola- 
tions of his grace are vouchsafed, at all seasons, to 
such as seek him with a contrite heart. Yet it 
cannot be denied that there is something in the holy 
quiet of the Sabbath, something in its associations,, 
something in the very fact of its institution, which 
renders it eminently fitted to inspire and cherish 
the holiest thoughts, and to make it a source of the 
richest intellectual and spiritual blessings. 

Now this is just such a rest as the mind needs, a 
rest from weariness and care, a rest from worldly 
occupations and pursuits, a rest from meditation 



22 THE SABBATH. 

upon things visible and temporal, in the calm and 
elevated contemplation upon the unseen and eternal. 

Meditation upon these lofty truths cannot fail to 
cultivate man's intellectual as well as his spiritual 
nature; and hence a Sabbath-keeping people are 
always intelligent. Men, who in the course of 
three-score years and ten, spend ten years, as they 
may do, if they spend their Sabbaths as they ought, 
in studying the sublimest truths that can occupy 
the mind, if possessed of ordinary capacity, must 
acquire a large amount of knowledge eminently 
serviceable to them in every walk of life ; for the 
truths of religion are not mere speculations, but 
practical principles to direct us in all the duties 
arising out of our various relations. 

Add to the meditation upon these truths the 
reading of the Bible, of good books, and the listen- 
ing to public instruction from men of learning and 
intelligence, and it w;ill be at once seen, that the 
influence of the Sabbath — when devoted to its 
legitimate ends — upon intellectual culture cannot 
be overrated. It affords an opportunity for the 
acquisition of that knowledge, without which the 
will is deprived of its strongest motives, and law 
of its highest sanctions. 

This part of the subject is susceptible of ample 
illustration by examples. Let it suffice to refer to 
the superior mental vigour and proficiency of those 
young men at college, who exchange their ordinary 
studies for the proper duties of the Sabbath, com- 



THE SABBATH. 23 

pared with those who pursue their studies on that 
sacred day. Professors in colleges have doubtless 
observed the fact. 



SECTION IV. 

THE MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ADVANTAGES OF THE SABBATH. 

These have been alluded to in the preceding sec- 
tion ; but they are sufficiently important to require 
a separate discussion. Indeed, they are the most 
important advantages secured by the day of holy 
rest. 

Moral, contradistinguished from spiritual, relates 
to duty or obligation. It pertains to those motives 
and actions of which right and wrong, virtue and 
vice, may be affirmed or denied. It relates to the 
practice, manners, or conduct of men, so far as those 
are the subjects of law. Spiritual, as distinguished 
from moral, pertains to the soul and its affections, 
as influenced by the Holy Spirit. It includes the 
moral; but the moral does not necessarily include 
the spiritual. 

The moral advantages of the Sabbath commend 
themselves to the most superficial thinker. The 
very observance of a day, out of respect to our own 
well-being, is itself a great moral benefit, as it 
habituates the mind to thoughts of self-preservation 
and bodily comfort. Add to this the observance of 
it out of regard to the authority of God, and the 



24 THE SABBATH. 

moral advantage is heightened, because the mind is 
brouglit under the influence of tlie unseen and eter- 
nal. While under this influence, and freed from 
worldly avocations, it is prepared and has opportu- 
nity, to consider questions of duty, to weigh motives, 
to determine the quality of actions, and to form 
plans and resolutions of doing good. No other day, 
on account of the various and necessary occupations 
of life, can be so favourable for these things as the 
holy Sabbath. 

Its spiritual advantages are chiefly, though not 
entirely, confined to the Christian. The impenitent 
are often led, by its institution, by its sacred associ- 
ations and holy duties, to think of "that rest which 
remaineth to the people of God," to feel their need 
of preparation for it, and to apply for salvation to 
Him, who '^taketh away the sin of the world." 
The Sabbath is a constant memorial of the heavenly 
rest, and a standing invitation to all that are weary 
and heavy laden to seek it; and many have accepted 
the invitation, and found the rest for which they 
sighed. 

To the Christian it is a foretaste of heaven. 
During its sacred hours, he can draw off his mind 
from those worldly thoughts and distracting cares 
which grow out of his pursuits on other days, and 
hold communion with the Father of his spirit. He 
can meditate, without interruption, on the riches of 
the inheritance of the saints in glory, on the love 
of God, on the grace and condescension of Christ, 



THE SABBATH. 25 

and on tlie consolation of the Holy Spirit. While 
thus occupied, his soul is often wafted upward on 
the wings of faith and hope, until he imagines him- 
self mingling with the blissful throng in the pres- 
ence of the ineffable glory. And when the glorious 
vision passes, and he feels himself still an inhabi- 
tant of the earth, how often does he breathe out his 
soul, in the language of the poet: 

'•'"Who, who would live alway, awav from Ms God; 
Away from von lieaTen, that blissful abode, 
Where the rivers of pleasure flow o'er the bright plains, 
And the noontide of glory eternally reigns : 

" "Where the saints of all ages in harmony meet, 
Their Saviour and brethren transjDorted to greet ; 
"While the anthems of rapture unceasingly roll, 
And the smile of the Lord is the feast of the soul ?" 

But the exercises of the Christian are not always 
of a rapturous kind, even on the Sabbath, The 
child of God often has his doubts and fears, his 
troubles and sorrows. When thus affected, what a 
blessed privilege it is for him to have the opportu- 
nity of self-examination, of communion with God 
in the closet, of confessing his sins and supplicating 
the Divine forgiveness, of reading the Bible, and 
pondering its precious promises, of going to the 
house of God and listening to the preaching of the 
word, of conferring with other Christians, and 
learning that his trials are not peculiar. If he has 
been faithful in these things, peace has returned to 

3 



26 THE SAEBATn. 

his mind, and he has been enabled to say with the 
Psahnist: "Why art thou east down, O my soul? 
and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in 
God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health 
of my countenance, and my God." 

The writer does not intend to convey the idea 
that these holy exercises and sacred privileges are 
confined to the Sabbath ; but he does intend to con- 
vey the idea that there is something in the very 
institution and associations of the Sabbath favourable 
to them, and in fact suggestive of them. "Were 
there no Sabbath, some of them could not be 
.enjoyed at all, and others would be in danger of 
being neglected. If, with the inestimable privilege 
of one day in seven for such holy and elevating 
exercises. Christians are so feeble in the divine life, 
what would they be without it? God only can tell. 

We must conclude, then, that the Sabbath is the 
source of incalculable moral and spiritual advan- 
tages, that without it morality and religion would 
scarcely exist. 



THE SABBATH. 27 

CHAPTER II. 

THE SOCL\L ADVANTAGES OP THE SABBATH. 
SECTION I. 

THE FAMILY. 

The Sabbath is a beneficent family institution. 
Without it the great end of the family could not 
be accomplished. What is that end? The mere 
increase of the human species? That might multi- 
ply only wickedness and woe. It is to raise up a 
"godly seed.'' ^'And did not he make one? Yet 
had he the residue of the Spirit. And wherefore 
one? That he might seek a godly seed. There- 
fore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal 
treacherously against the wife of his youth.'' 
(Malachi ii. 15.) In a state of innocence, amidst 
the delights of Paradise, God instituted marriage 
and the Sabbath, the former to perpetuate the race, 
the latter to preserve it in its highest state of earthly 
blessedness. 

How does the Sabbath minister to this end? To 
answer this question, it will be necessary to consider 
the reciprocal duties of parents and children, so 
that the connection between these duties and the 
Sabbatical institution may be more clearly compre- 
hended. 

The duties that the parent owes to the child are 



28 TUE SABBATH. 

maintenance, government, and education. Tlie first 
has no direct or necessary connection with the point 
under discussion, and may, therefore, \ye dismissed. 
The other two depend, for their faithful and fullest 
discharge, very much upon the proper observance 
of the Sabbath. 

"The family is a little society, a miniature state; 
and every society, every state, must have its laws, 
its government.'' It is the duty of the divinely 
constituted head, the father, or, in case of his ab- 
sence or death, the mother, to administer that gov- 
ernment, and to enforce these laws. The very first 
law of the family is obedience to parental authority 
in the Lord; to honour father and mother. Sub- 
mission to this law is obligatory on the child, and 
must be required by the parent. If insubordination 
is allow^ed on the part of the parents, the conse- 
quences to the child may prove fatal to its interests, 
both temporal and eternal. Hence it is a duty 
which the parent owes to the state and to God, to 
teach his child respect for rightful authority and 
submission to it. It is in this way that children 
are trained for useful service in the world, that the 
family becomes "a nursery for higher and broader 
spheres of action. In it the seeds are planted, and 
the germs are nurtured, which are to have their full 
development, and bear their fruit in future years, 
and in other worlds." This is the end to be aimed 
at in family government; and it is an end which, 
as a general rule, will be accomplished, if that 



THE SABBATH. 29 

government is properly enforced. But if there is 
any laxity, or unfaithfulness on the part of the pa- 
rent, in this respect, the child goes forth from his 
father's house, unfitted to assume those solemn 
responsibiliti-Gs which will devolve upon him as a 
member of society, or as the head of a family, 
should he ever become one. 

The duty of a parent is not limited to the gov- 
ernment of his children : he must also educate them. 
This education must have reference to their training, 
physical, intellectual, and moral. The importance 
of possessing a good physical constitution is uni^ 
versally acknowledged; this the parent should 
endeavour to secure for the child by the use of such 
means as will best develop the bodily powers. 
Simultaneously with this, the intellect inust be 
trained to habits of thought and reflection; useM 
knowledge must be imparted, so that the mind may 
receive its proper aliment, and all its faculties find 
their appropriate exercise. 

But the most important branch of education is 
the moral. The heart of the child must be edu- 
cated. On this depends his eternal happiness. He 
must be taught his relations to God and to his 
fellow-men and the duties arising out of these rela- 
tions; and these duties must be enforced by the 
highest sanctions and by the most powerful motives. 
The parent is, moreover, responsible, in a great 
measure, for the religious faith of the child. It is 
too much the custom of the present day to allow 

3* 



30 THE SABBATH. 

children to grow up without any well-defined views 
of divine truth. There seems to be a fear, on the 
part of many parents, lest the minds of their chil- 
dren should become prejudiced, were they instructed 
in the doctrines of the Bible, especially as held by 
any one denomination of Christians. Hence they 
are left to form their own religious opinions, as 
inclination or circumstances may determine. Such 
neglect, on the part of the parent, is downright dis- 
honesty, in case he holds any decided religious 
views. It is in effect saying that all beliefs are 
equally good. The Bible gives no countenance to 
such indifference. It enjoins upon parents to bring 
up their "children in the nurture and admonition 
of the Lord;'' and upon children to "hear the in- 
struction of a father and" to "attend to know 
understanding." (Ephes. vi. 4; Prov. iv. 1, 2.) 
And the Lord assigned as a reason, why he did not 
hide what he was about to do from Abraham, "For 
I know him, that he will command his children, 
and his household after him, and they shall keep 
the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment." 

These duties, on the part of the parent, imply 
reciprocal ones on the part of the child. If it is 
the duty of the parent to govern, it is the duty of 
the child to obey. If there is obligation resting 
on the parent to educate, the child must yield him- 
self to be trained and guided. There are also 
duties arising out of the very relation of parent 
and child, which the latter is bound, by the highest 



THE SABBATH. 81 

conskleratlons, to fulfil. To enumerate them is not 
necessary to the present purpose. They may be 
summed up in obedience, docility, and love. 

The way is now open to see the intimate connec- 
tion between family government and education, and 
the Sabbath institution. 

It is an adage that example is more efficacious 
than precept. When the parent, therefore, in obe- 
dience to God's commandment, remembers the Sab- 
bath day to keep it holy, he is using the very best 
means for securing wholesome family government. 
He thus most effectually impresses upon the mind 
of the child the ideas of law and obligation. He 
might enjoin precept upon precept, but unless his 
own example conformed to his teaching, the latter 
would be without effect. When the child sees the 
parent practically acknowledging the authority of 
God by keeping his commandments, it cannot fail 
to have awakened within it the feeling of reverence 
and a sense of duty. The idea of a moral govern- 
ment will be associated with its earliest recollections, 
with the dawn of reason, and will prove a salutary 
restraint during its whole future life. 

The Sabbath moreover, by bringing together all 
the members of the family, under the eye and 
immediate control of the father, the fountain of 
household authority, affords a better opportunity for 
exercising domestic government, than any other 
portion of the week, when separation from one an- 
other much of the time interferes with the best 



32 THE SABBATH. 

plans of instruction and discipline, and secular 
affairs engross the attention. Occasional precept 
and example, without the presence of power to en- 
force them, might soon be forgotten. Hence the 
importance that the pupil should be under the eye 
and immediate direction of the teacher. This priv- 
ilege in the case of the family the Sabbath secures. 

If the Sabbath, when properly observed, tends 
to sustain domestic government, it no less tends to 
promote domestic education. 

Let us view it in connection with the physical 
education of children. It affords them a day of 
rest from manual labour, or from school; an oppor- 
tunity of cleansing themselves and putting on their 
best apparel; of attending Sabbath-school and 
church. All these things have a tendency to pro- 
duce cheerfulness and equanimity of mind, to pro- 
mote order and health. The effect can be no other 
than salutary to have a respite from their childish 
cares and sorrows, from their weekly tasks and toils, 
as they may have if their parents exact from them 
a proper observance of the Lord's day. These 
hours of holy time they ^411 regard as the most 
pleasant of their lives, and they will learn to hail 
their return with delight. 

To effect this the Sabbath must not be made to 
them, as it too often is by well-meaning but mis- 
taken parents, a day of gloom, but a day of cheer- 
fulness. They must be taught that it was designed 
to promote their physical comfort and well-being, 



THE SABBATH. 33 

and that tlicy should use it in such a way as to 
accomplish that end. 

But the Sabbath has higher aims than man's 
physical benefit. The culture of the soul is its 
chief design. How kind is God to give us a day 
for this purpose — a day without which many fami- 
lies would be deprived of the most ennobling influ- 
ences that can be experienced in this world, and 
without which none would enjoy them in all their 
richness and power! 

That the Lord's day is eminently fitted for this 
highest of all culture no candid man can doubt. 
The intellect is awakened by the associations and 
teachings of the day — teachings on subjects that 
require the most profound and patient thought — the 
power of conscience is increased by a constant sense 
of the obligations of divine law, the purest earthly 
affections are strengthened by the sweet and hallowed 
influences of the domestic hearth. In none but a 
Sabbath-keeping country could such a scene as that 
portrayed in the "Cotter's Saturday night" be laid. 
The father, mother, and children, some of whom 
are out at service, meet on the eve of the Sabbath, 
for the purpose of spending that holy day together 
as a family. After their frugal repast has been 
finished, and they have formed a circle round their 
cottage fire, 

*' The sire turns o'er wi' patriarchal grace, 
The big ha' Bible, once his father's pride: 
His bonnet rev'rently is laid aside, 



34 THE SABBATH. 

His lyart haffets wearin' thin and bare ; 

Those strains that once did sweet in Zion glide, 

He wales a portion with judicious care ; 

And, 'Let us worship God I' he says with solemn air. 

"They chant their artless notes in simple guise; ■ 
They tune their hearts, by far the noblest aim ; 
Perhaps Dundee's wild warbling measures rise, 
Or, plaintive Martyrs, Avorthy of the name ; 
Or noble Elgin beats the heavenward flame, 
The sweetest far of Scotia's holy lays : 
Compared with these, Italian trills are tame; 
The tickled ears no heartfelt raptures raise ; 
Nae unison hae they with our Creator's praise." 

After he has read a lesson from the sacred page, 

"Then kneeling down, to heaven's Eternal King, 
The saint, the father, and the husband prays: 
Hope, 'springs exulting on triumphant wing,' 
That thus they all shall meet in future, days : 
There, ever bask in uncreated rays, 
No more to sigh, or shed the bitter tear. 
Together hymning their Creator's x)raise, 
In such society, yet still more dear ; 
While circling time moves round in an eternal sphere.'* 



SECTION II. 

THE COMlVnrNITY. 

From the advantages of the Sabbath upon the in- 
dividual and the family, it is easy and natural to 
pass to those upon the community. Communities 
are composed of individuals and families, conse- 
quently whatever benefits the latter must also 



THE SABBATH. 35 

benefit the former. The aggregate contains the 
sum of the several particuhirs; hence particular 
benefits make up the sum of the aggregate benefits. 

The chief blessings of a community are intelli- 
gence, religion, morality, and good laws. The first 
three of these the institution of the Sabbath pro- 
motes directly, and indirectly secures the enactment 
of the last, with obedience to them. 

It requires no wide induction of facts, no ex- 
tended argument, to prove that the Sabbath, when 
properly observed, promotes intelligence. All the 
exercises, both public and private, peculiar to the 
day, tend to quicken the intellect and enlarge the 
views. The reading of the Bible and good books, 
the attendance upon public worship, and listening 
to discourses from able and learned men, and medi- 
tation upon the sublimest truths within the range 
of human thought, and that periodically, during 
the seventh portion of each man's lifetime, must, 
from the very nature of things, diffuse a degree of 
intelligence, which could never be attained, without 
the Sabbatical rest. 

The connection between knowledge and religion 
is inseparable. Our Saviour said, "This is life 
eternal, that they might know thee, the only true 
God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.'' In- 
deed, all true religion is based upon religious 
knowledge — a knowledge of the true God. To 
conserve and propagate this knowledge, the church 
has been organized, and ordinances of worship have 



36 THE SABBATH. 

been established. Her mission is to disciple all 
nations. In the fulfdment of this mission, God 
has been with her, and crowned her efforts with 
success. He has sent his Holy Spirit to render the 
preaching of his word effectual, to edify his people, 
to comfort their hearts, and to convert sinners. 
ISIuch of the success of this high and holy work 
has been in connection with the observance of the 
Sabbath. Where there is no such observance, it is 
a rare thing to find vital godliness. Dead formality 
exists, and open, gross immorality pervades every 
grade of society. And this state of things is just 
in proportion to the extent of the desecration of the 
Sabbath. 

If any are skeptical on this point, let them com- 
pare Roman Catholic countries with Protestant, 
and those Protestant countries where the Sabbath 
is generally and properly observed, with other 
Protestant countries, where it is not, and their 
skepticism will soon vanish. 

True religion is the basis of sound morality; for 
morality consists in the performance of those duties 
tliat are enjoined by the divine law. But the ful- 
filment of this law is love, which is the very essence 
of religion. If religion, therefore, is lacking, the 
very ground element of all morality is wanting. 
The relation between religion and morality being 
so intimate, whatever promotes the interests of the 
one must promote the interests of the other. If 
the observance of the Sabbath, therefore, is essential 



THE SABBATH. 37 

to the prosperity of religion, it is no less so to that 
of morality. 

This deduction is conformable to facts. Those 
communities in which the purest morality is found, 
are the religious, Sabbath-keeping communities. 
For proof of this, it is necessary only to refer to 
Scotland, the north of Ireland, England, and our 
own country. That the superior morality of these 
countries is the fruit of their evangelical religion, 
scarcely any one will have the hardihood to deny ; 
that the vitality of their religion is preserved by 
keeping holy the Sabbath day will be almost as 
readily admitted, if the nature and object of the 
Sabbath are considered, together with the fact that 
its sauctification and true piety are seldom ever 
found separated. 

It is not necessary to do more than merely to 
allude to the influence of all this upon legislation 
and good order. The laws of a country — especially 
of a free country — are a very good index of its 
moral theories and sentiments. If these are wrong, 
the laws will be of the same character, unless prac- 
tical difficulties intervene to prevent the application 
of them in legislation. Hence the necessity of 
sound moral principles in order to secure the enact- 
ment of good laws. The practice of morality, 
consisting in cheerful and constant obedience to 
law, is no less necessary to good order. Such being 
the case, the connection between the sanctification 

4 



38 THE SABRATH. 

of the Sabbath and the highest civil and political 
interests of a community is apparent. 

AVhat has been said in this section might be 
abundantly illustrated by an appeal to the facts of 
history, many of which will suggest themselves to 
the mind of the intelligent reader. To adduce 
them would cause the writer to transcend the limits 
which he has imposed upon himself. His chief 
aim is to state principles and illustrate them only 
far enough to draw attention to a much neglected, 
but very important, subject. 

SECTION III. 

SUMIMAEY OF THE PRECEDING SECTIONS. 

In a field, whose limits are not visible, the la- 
bourer finds satisfaction in frequently looking behind 
him, to see how much of it he has brought under 
his cultivating hand. So it is with the student and 
writer. They experience both benefit and pleasure 
in reviewing the ground that they have passed over, 
and in determining clearly the precise point at 
which they have arrived. Let us take a brief re- 
view, that we may see more clearly the point that 
we have reached. 

We have endeavoured to show that the law of the 
Sabbath is founded in the constitution of man, by 
the fact that it is necessary to his physical, intellec- 
tual, moral, and spiritual well-being. Its physical 
advantages are, that as a day of rest, it affords 



THE SABBATH. 39 

compensation for the inadequate restorative power 
of the body under continued labour and excitement; 
it gives repose, and promotes cleanliness and health. 

To the intellect it affords an opportunity for 
agreeable change, for thou.ght and reflection upon 
the loftiest truths that can occupy the mind, for 
availino; itself of the instructions of able and 
learned men, and of good books; and for subjecting 
itself to all those quickening influences which the 
exercises of the Sabbath are fitted to produce. 

It supplies man's spiritual need by affording him 
an opportunity of applying spiritual truths to his 
conscience, of making them motives to influence 
his will, and of placing himself more unreservedly 
than he can do while engaged in secular pursuits, 
under the influence of the unseen and eternal. 

To the family, the Sabbatical institution is a 
blessing by promoting domestic order and education, 
family religion and affection. 

It blesses the community by directly advancing 
intelligence, religion, and morality; and by indirectly 
securing the results of these — good legislation and 
social order. 

Each of the topics treated in the preceding sec- 
tions might have been indefinitely extended ; and 
other topics miglit have been added; but as the 
main object throughout has been to show that the 
law of the Sabbath is founded in the constitution of 
man, it was deemed unnecessary to introduce any 
subject which did not directly contribute to this end. 



40 THE SABBATH. 

This plan may seem to some to exclude the family 
and the state, or community, wiiich have both re- 
ceived notice, in connection with the sacred day; 
but it really does not, for these institutions are 
natural and coeval with the human race. They are 
essential to the perjjetuation and well-being of 
mankind, founded in the very necessities of our 
being, in a way that cannot be affirmed of other 
things that might have been introduced. 



PART II. 

SECTION I. 

IN'STITUTIOX OF THE SABBATH. 

If the law of the Sabbath is founded in the con- 
stitution of man, it seems to be a veiy obvious 
inference that it should be coeval with the human 
race. Being an institution of universal and perma- 
nent benefit, it must have had its origin among the 
first necessities of mankind. 

But we are not left to a priori deduction on this 
point. After "the heavens and earth were finished, 
and all the host of them," God "rested on the sev- 
enth day from all his work w^hich he had made. 
And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it : 
because that in it he had rested from all his work 
which God created and made." (Gen. ii. 2, 3.) 

These verses clearly teach the paradisaical origin 
of the Sabbath as a day of holy rest and worship. 
"What else can be inferred from God's blessing and 
sanctifying the seventh day, it is difficult to conceive. 
The Hebrew word, rendered in the English version, 
"sanctified,'^ signifies in the Piel species, (the spe- 
cies used in Gen. ii. 3,) to make holy, to hallow, 

to regard and treat as holy, to consecrate. The 
4 s 41 



42 THE SABBATH. 

language of the sacred writer, therefore, evidently 
means that the seventh day was consecrated, set 
apart to be a day of peculiar blessing to man. It 
was given to our first parents, at that time the whole 
human race; and the reason assigned for its institu- 
tion is general, viz. : ^' God rested." As this reason 
is unlimited by locality or time, the institution can- 
not have reference to any particular people or to 
any particular age, but to every people and to every 
age. 

The supposiiion that Moses had, in the passage 
quoted, anticipative reference to the fourth com- 
mandment, is unnatural, if the Sabbath is such an 
institution as we have endeavoured to show in the 
former part of this treatise. Being alike useful and 
important for mankind in general, in all ages, it 
would most naturally have its beginning when 
man commenced his existence. This view of its 
origin explains those intimations which sometimes 
appear in the book of Genesis, of the use of the 
number seven in designating periods of time. 

1. A certain period of time is referred to in Gt?n. 
iv. 3, which is not said to have been the hebdoma- 
dal; but on the hypothesis that the Sabbath was 
previously instituted, scarCfely a doubt can be enter- 
tained that the reference is to a weekly division. 

2. AYhatever uncertainty may exist in regard to 
the division of time alluded to above, there are 
passages which are sufficiently explicit. Xoah ob- 
served the hebdomadal division of time. The 



THE SABBATH. 43 

comDnand was given to enter into the ark ^mm dajs 
before the flood came. (Gen. vii. 4^ 10.) Serai 
days elapsed between the tim^ of sending forth the 
dove. (Gen. viii. 10-12.) Jacob fulfilled a weeh 
{lit«allv hebdomad,) for Eachel, (Gen. xxix. 27, 
28 ;) and Joseph made a mourning for his fother 
«Tfii davs. (Gen. 1. 10.) 

The next mention of the Sabbath is in Exodus 
xvi. 22-30. This was on the occasion of giving 
the manna, before the promulgation of the law fiom 
Mount Sinai. "And it came to pass/' says the 
sacred historian, "that on the sixth day they gath- 
ered twice as much bread^ two omeis for one man: 
and all the rulers of the congre^tion came and 
told Mos€s, And he said unto them. This is that 
which the Lord hath said. To-morrow is the rest of 
the holy Sabbath unto the Loid : bake that which 
ye shaU bake io-day, and seethe that ye will seethe; 
and that which remaineth over, lay up for you to 
be kept until the rooming. And they laid it up 
till the morning as Moses bade; and it did not stink, 
neither was there any worm therein. And Moses 
said. Eat that to-day; for to-day is a Sabbath unto 
the Lord: to-day ye shall not find it in the field. 
Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, 
whidi is the Sabbath, there shall be none. And it 
came to po^ that there went out some of the peo- 
ple on the seventh day for to gather, and they found 
none. And the Lord said unto Moses, How long 
refuse ye to keep my commandmenis and my laws? 



44 THE SABBATH. 

See, for that the Lord hatli given you tlie Sabbath, 
therefore he giveth you on the sixth clay the bread 
of two days: abide ye every man in his place, let 
no man go out of his place on the seventh day. 
So the people rested on the seventh day.'' 

This passage speaks of the Sabbath as a thing 
known. Without naming it, or referring to it, 
God informed Moses that the Israelites should 
gather, on the sixth day, twice as much manna as 
on any other day. From this it would seem that 
the division of time, by weeks, was known when 
the Israelites went out of Egypt. This was before 
the giving of the law: therefore the obligation to 
observe the Sabbath is clearly enforced, irrespective 
of the Mosaic law. 

The opening words of the fourth commandment 
— '^Remember the Sabbath day" — imply that the 
institution was not a new one, though it had prob- 
ably fallen into desuetude; and the reason assigned 
for its observance is a general one, and not connected 
with the deliverance of the Israelites from bondage. 

The fact that some heathen nations, at a very 
early period, and some of a later date, observed a 
hebdomadal division of time, is an argument for 
the paradisaical origin of the Sabbath. AVe find 
traces of it, and of the Sabbatic principle, among 
the Phoenicians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Slavo- 
nians, the natives of Pegu, the Chinese, the inhabi- 
tants of Guinea, and INIexicans. It is not probable 
that these nations derived it from the Jews, who 



THE SABBATH. 45 

were unknown to many of them, and hated by 
those to whom they were known. How, then, 
came they by it? Either the Sabbatic institution 
commended itself to their reason, or it was trans- 
mitted from one generation to another, from the 
very beginning of our race. If we accept the 
former hypothesis, it is in perfect harmony with the 
doctrine that the Sabbath is a natural institution, 
founded in our constitution; if the latter, it is in 
perfect harmony with the Bible account of its para- 
disaical origin. 

An objection against the paradisaical origin of 
the Sabbath has been drawn from the silence of the 
Scriptures respecting its observance, until after the 
departure of the children of Israel from Egypt. 
It mio;ht as well be aro;ued that it was not observed 
during the time of the judges, since there is no 
mention of the fact. But no one could be induced to 
believe, from the mere silence of the Scriptures on 
the subject, that an institution, which was re-enacted 
with so much solemnity at Sinai, and which was 
the key-note to a scale of Sabbatical observances 
among the Jews, had fallen into desuetude shortly 
after the death of Joshua. With as little prob- 
ability, considering the frequent intimations of a 
hebdomadal division of time in the book of Gene- 
sis, can any one infer that it was not observed prior 
to the giving of the law. The silence of the Scrip- 
tures on the subject is not conclusive. 

The duty of observing the Sabbath is sometimes 



46 THE SABBATH 

put upon a grourtd different from that given in the 
fourth commandment. "And tlie Lord spake unto 
Moses, saying, Speak thou also unto the children of 
Israel, saying, Verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep; 
for it is a sign between me and you throughout your 
generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord 
that doth sanctify you. Ye shall keep the Sabbath 
therefore; for it is holy unto you. Every one that 
defileth it shall surely be put to death : for whoso- 
ever doetli any work therein, that soul shall be cut 
off from among his people. Six days may work be 
done; but in the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, 
holy to the Lord : whosoever doeth any work in the 
Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. 
Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the 
Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their 
generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign 
between me and the children of Israel for ever: for 
in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and 
on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed." 
(Exodus xxxi. 12-17.) "And remember that thou 
wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the 
Lord thy God brought thee out thence through a 
mighty hand and by a stretched out arm; therefore 
the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the 
Sabbath day.'' (Deut. v. 15.) 

From these passages it may be clearly inferred 
that besides the re-enactment of the Sabbatical 
institution, at Sinai, there were special additions 
made to its observance, which belonged to the Jews 



THE SABBATH. 47 

only, and which were a part of tlieir civil or cere- 
monial law. These additions were made for the 
reasons specified in the two passages that have been 
quoted : 

1. As a sign of their covenant relation to the 
Lord. "Verily my Sabbath ye shall keep: for it 
is a sign between me and you throughout your gen- 
erations ; that ye may know that I am the Lord 
that doth sanctify you.'' 

2. As a memorial of their deliverance from 
Egypt. "Remember that thou wast a servant in 
the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God 
brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and 
a stretched out arm: therefore the Lord thy God 
hath commanded thee to keep the Sabbath day." 

With these ends in view the Sabbatical principle 
was extended to years, every seventh year being a 
year of rest. Moreover the violation of the Sab- 
bath, among the Jews, was punished with death by 
the civil magistrate. 

Since these things were for the Jews, as a nation, 
and hence designed for a particular purpose, and 
local in their nature, they ceased whenever that 
purpose was accomplished. They have passed away 
with the Jewish polity; while that which is moral 
and universal, that which "was made for man," 
and not for the Jews specially, remains, and will 
remain. 

From this brief and imperfect discussion of the 
institution of the Sabbath we unhesitatingly con- 



48 THE SABBATH. 

elude tliat its origin is coeval with tliat of man, for 
the following reasons: 

1. The Sabbath being of univer.-al and perma- 
nent benefit, and its law being founded in the 
constitution of man, must, one would suppose, be 
as old as the necessities which it is designed to 
supply. These necessities had their origin with 
our race. 

2. The testimony of Scripture: 

(a) The exjn-ess mention of its institution. Gen. 
ii. 2, 3. 

(6) Intimations, that appear in the book of 
Genesis, of the use of the number seven in desig- 
nating periods of time, Gen. vii. 6-10 ; viii. 10-12; 
xxix. 27, 28 ; 1. 10. 

(c) The sacred narrative. Exodus xvi. 22-30. 

{d) The opening words of the fourth command- 
ment, and the fact that the reason assigned in that 
commandment for its observance is a general one. 

3. The fact that some heathen nations, at a very 
early period, observed a hebdomadal division of 
time. 

4. The fact that special reasons were given to the 
Jews for its observance leads us to infer that the 
general reason assigned in the fourth commandment 
was intended for all mankind; that it existed before 
the Jews were a nation, just as the rainbow may 
have existed before it was made the sign of the 
covenant with Xoah. 

6. We may add the fact that the fourth command- 



THE SABBATH. 49 

mont is incorporated into a series of moral laws, 
which are universally binding, in all ages. These 
laws were not enacted, for the first time, at Sinai. 
From their very nature they must have existed 
from the origin of mankind. But the moral char- 
acter of the Sabbath will form the subject of the 
next chapter. 

SECTION II. 

THE SABBATH A MORAL INSTITUTION. 

Some take the ground that the Sabbath is a 
positive institution. Even Dr. Way land, in his 
excellent work entitled ^^The Elements of Moral 
Science,'' says: "Although the Sabbath is a positive 
institution, and, therefore, the proof of its obligation 
is to be sought for entirely from revelation, yet there 
are indications in the present constitution, that 
periods of rest are necessary both for man and for 
beast." It is to be regretted that so eminent a man 
should have given his authority to such a doctrine. 
It is due to him, however, to say that his arguments 
on the subject agree better with the opposite doc- 
trine, that the Sabbath is a moral institution. 

But for the purpose of contributing to a clearer 
understanding of the matter, let us consider the 
distinction between positive and moral. 

In the words of Bishop Butler, "Moral precepts 
are precepts the reasons of which we see: positive 
precepts are precepts the reasons of which we do 



50 THE SABBATH. 

not see. Moral duties arise out of the nature of 
tlie case itself, prior to external command. Positive 
duties do not arise out of the nature of tlie case, 
but from external command; nor would they be 
duties at all, were it not for such command received 
from Him whose creatures and subjects- we are." 
[Analogy, part ii. chapter i.) 

To place the subject in a still clearer light, a few 
illustrations may be useful. 

The love of God, obedience to him, and obedience 
to parents are moral duties, because they arise from 
our relations to God and our parents. The reasons 
of them are seen. Hence the laws enjoining these 
duties are moral laws, binding upon the whole hu- 
man race, at every period of its existence. The 
command to the Israelites to keep the Passover 
was positive, and the duty to observe it was positive, 
because prior to external command no reason could 
be seen for such an observance. Moral duties are 
commanded because they are right: positive duties 
are right because they are commanded. 

We are now prepared to discuss the question 
whether the Sabbath is a positive or a moral insti- 
tution. 

1. The reason for the observance of the Sabbath 
existing in our constitution is deducible from the 
light of nature; and hence can be seen and felt prior 
to external command. This fact clearly shows the 
Sabbath to be a moral institution. The duties en- 
joined by it are such as are necessary to our well- 



THE SABBATH. 51 

being as physical, intellectual, and moral creatures; 
and are not limited to any particular age, or nation, 
but are as enduring and universal as the human 
race. Experience confirms this statement. "Where 
the true religion has been unknown, it has always 
been found necessary to appoint, by some constituted 
authority, a certain number of holidays, which have 
often, even in heathen countries, exceeded, rarely 
anywhere have fallen short of, the number of God's 
instituted Sabbaths. The animal and mental, the 
bodily and spiritual natures of man alike demand 
them. Even Plato deemed the appointment of 
such days of so benign and gracious a tendency, 
that he ascribed them to that pity which the gods 
have for mankind born to painful labour, that they 
mio'ht have an ease and cessation from their toils. 
And what is this but an experimental testimony to 
the truth of God's having ordered his work of 
creation with a view to the appointment of such an 
institution in providence? and to his wisdom and 
goodness in having done so?'' (Fairbairn's Typol- 
ogy, vol. ii. p. 116.) 

2. The law enjoining the observance of the Sab- 
bath is placed in the decalogue, which is acknow- 
ledged to be a summary of moral precepts. This 
is a testimony of the Divine Author of the deca- 
logue to its moral character. Why did he place it 
among moral laws, Avritten by his own hand, if it 
is merely positive? Why was the longest peal of 
the trumpet that which proclaimed the obligation 



62 THE SABBATH. 

to '^remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy,'- if 
it was a positive institution, designed to be merely 
temporary and local? 

Observe, too, its position in the decalogue. It 
occupies a place intermediate to the commands of 
the first table and to those of the second, uniting 
the two tables, and securing, by its proper obser- 
vance, the duties of both. lu fact the duties of the 
Sabbath belong to both tables of the law, for they 
relate to the worship of God and to our own physi- 
cal and moral culture. 

The doctrine that the law of the Sabbath is moral, 
is in direct conflict with the opinion that it is a 
Jewish and temporary institution. The absurdity 
of such an opinion is, moreover, obvious from the 
very face of the fourth commandment. There is 
nothing in that commandment connected with indi- 
vidual interests, or national history. The great 
fact, on which it is based, is of equal significance to 
the world: it is universal in its bearing. ^^Thou 
shalt remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy, for 
in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the 
sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh 
day.'^ What is there here in the reason assigned 
for observing the seventh day, which is applicable 
to the Jews more than to any other people? Xo- 
thing. But abundant reason is given for its being 
kept sacred by all the creatures of God. 

Tlie conclusion at wiiich we arrive from the fact 
that the law of the Sabbath is founded in the nature 



THE SABBATH. 58 

of man, — the reason for its observance being thus 
deducible from the light of nature — and from its 
position in a series of moral precepts, is that it is 
moral and not positive. 

iSTot withstanding this obvious conclusion, ^'it is 
argued by some, that whatever may have been the 
reason for admitting the law of the Sabbath into 
the ten commandments, and engraving it on tables 
of stone, it still is in its own nature different from 
all the rest. They are moral, and because moral, 
of universal force and obligation, while this is cere- 
monial, owing its existence to positive enactment, 
and, therefore, binding only so far as the enactment 
itself might be extended. The duties enjoined in, 
the former are founded in the nature of things, and 
the essential relations in which men stand to God, 
or to their fellow-men; hence they do not depend 
on any positive enactment, but are co-extensive in 
their obligation with reason and conscience. But 
the law of the Sabbath, prescribing one day in 
seven to be a day of sacred rest, has its foundation 
simply in the authoritative appointment of God, and 
hence, unlike the rest, is not fixed and universal,, 
but special and mutable." 

The reasoning here cannot be admitted, for it has 
been shown that the Sabbatical institution is founded 
in the- nature of things. It is founded in our con- 
stitution, and in the relations in which we stand to 
God. We require rest for both soul and body, and 
God must be worshipped ; consequently some stated 

5* 



54 



THE SABBATH. 



time should be set apart for these purposes. This 
the light of nature teaches. 

But does it teach what proj)ortion of time we 
should observe? whether a third, fourth, fifth, sixth, 
or seventh part of our weekly time? Or does it 
teach that we should observe the first day of the 
week in preference to the seventh? the fifth in pre- 
ference to the sixth? The light of nature does not 
instruct us in regard to these things. Are not, 
then, the proportion of time and the day to be 
observed positive? It would seem so, if reason 
cannot determine them. What part, then, of the 
Sabbath is moral? Evidently the substance of it, 
or what may be called the Sabbatical institution. 
The form of it, that is, the proj^ortion of time 
and the day, is positive. This conclusion is sup- 
ported by the words of the fourth commandment, 
which does not say, remember the seventh day, 
(namely in order from the creation,) but "remember 
the Sabbath day, to keep it holy." So, in the end 
of the commandment, the words are not, the Lord 
blessed the seventh day; but "the Lord blessed the 
Sabbath day," (the Sabbatical institution,) "and 
hallowed it.^^ 

The Sabbath, therefore, considered as to its sub- 
stance, is moral ; and considered as to the proportion 
of time and the day of the week to be observed, it 
is positive. Uniting the substance and form, and 
characterizing the institution according to their 



THE SABBATH. 55 

respective natures, we may denominate it moral- 
positive. 

Dr. Fairbairn, in his excellent work entitled, 
^'The Typology of Scripture,^^ (book iii. chap. ii. 
sec. 3,) makes some remarks on this subject, which 
seem neither clear nor satisfactory. 

"It is true,^' says Dr. Fairbairn, "that the Sab- 
bath is a positive institution, though intimately 
connected with God's work in creation ; and apart 
from his high command, it could not have been 
ascertained by the light of reason, that one entire 
day should at regular intervals be consecrated for 
bodily and spiritual rest, and especially that one in 
seven was the proper period to be fixed upon. In 
this respect we can easily recognize a distinction 
between the law of the Sabbath, and the laws which 
prohibit such crimes as lying, theft, or murder. 
But it does not, therefore, follow, that the Sabbath 
is in such a sense a positive, as to be a merely par- 
tial, temporary, ceremonial institution, and like 
others of this description done away in Christ. 
For a law may be positive in its origin, and yet 
neither local nor transitory in its destination; it 
may be positive in its origin, and yet equally needed 
and designed for all nations and ages of the world. 

"For of what nature, we ask, is the institution 
of marriage? The seventh commandment bears 
respect to that institution, and is thrown as a sacred 
fence around its sanctity. But is not marriage in 
its origin a positive institution? Has it any other 



56 THE SABBATH. 

foundation tlian the original act of Gocl In making 
one man and one Monian, and j)osItive]y ordaining 
that the man should cleave to the woman, and the 
two be one flesh V^ 

Perhaps Dr. Fairbalrn did not mean what these 
words seem to express. His error consists in not 
distinguishing between the substance of the Sabbath 
and its form. According to the principles on which 
he argues, every command of the decalogue, in its 
ultimate analysis, might be reduced to a positive 
precept. What ''other foundation than the original 
act of God in making one man and one woman, 
and positively ordaining'' that they should love 
and serve him, has the first, second, or third com- 
mandment? Is it said that its foundation is in our 
relation of creatures to God ? That is true. But 
that relationship was constituted by the act of crea- 
tion, which act depended upon the will of God. 
What foundation has the eighth commandment 
except the right of property? a right which has no 
existence prior to possession. 

It is not necessary that the reasons of a moral 
precept should be absolute, or unconditioned, like 
the axioms of mathematics, but that they should 
grow out of the relations that God has constituted 
— relations that exist everywhere and through all 
time among those for w^hose direction and benefit 
the law is intended. That the reasons for the 
observance of the Sabbath grow out of such rela- 
tions cannot be denied, if we consider its connection 



THE SABBATH. 57 

with onr own physical and spiritual well-being and 
with the discharge of our duties to the Author of 
our beino'. In view of these, the lio-lit of reason 
teaches us the necessity of such an institution. It 
is, therefore, according to our definition, a moral 
institution. Observing the distinction between 
moral and positive ah-eady given, we cannot under- 
stand how "a law may be positive in its origin, and 
yet neither local nor transitory in its destination^" 
how " it may be positive in its origin, and yet 
equally needed and designed for all nations and 
ages of the world." If a positive law may be such, 
what is the distinction between positive and moral? 
Might not a positive law, according to Dr. Fair- 
bairn, be discovered by the light of reason as well 
as a moral? The fact that a law is ^^ equally needed 
and designed for all nations and ag€s of the world'' 
is a clear proof that it is moral, inasmuch as it is 
founded on relations everywhere existing and per- 
ceived. Such a law is the Sabbath. 

Dr. Fairbairn himself, in another paragraph of 
the same section, from which the quotation above is 
made, speaks as strongly and clearly on this point 
as any one would desire ; with what consistency it 
is not easy to perceive. 

'^It deserves more notice, however," says Dr. 
Fairbairn, "than it usually receives in. this point of 
view, and should alone be almost held conclusive, 
that the ground on which the obligation to keep 
the Sabbath is based in the command, is the most 



68 THE SABBATH.- 

universal in its bearing tliat could i)ossibly be con- 
ceived. ^ Thou shalt remember the Sabbath-day to 
keep it holy, for in six days the Lord made heaven 
and earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested 
on the seventh day.' Tliere is manifestly nothing 
Jewish here; nothing connected with individual 
interests or national history; the grand fact, out of 
wliich the precept is made to grow, is of equal sig- 
nificance to the wliole world ; and why should not 
the precept be the same, of whicli it forms the basis ? 
God's method of procedure in creating the visible 
heavens and earth, produced as a formal reason for 
instituting a distinctive, temporary Jewish ordinance. 
Could it be possible to conceive a more Mame and 
impotent conclusion?' And this, too, in the most 
compact piece of legislation in existence ! It seems, 
indeed, as if God, in the appointment of this law, 
had taken special precautions against the attempts 
which he foresaw would be made to get rid of the 
institution, and that on this account he laid its 
foundations first in the oris^inal framework and 
constitution of nature. The law, as a whole, and 
certain, also, of its precepts, he was pleased to en- 
force by considerations drawn from his dealings 
toward Israel, and the peculiar relations which he 
now holds to them. But when he comes to impose 
the obligation of the Sabbath, he rises far beyond 
any consideration of a special kind, or any passing 
event of history. He ascends to primeval time, 
and, standing as on the platform of the newly 



THE SABBATH. 59 

created world, dates from thence the commencement 
and the ordination of a perpetually recurring day 
of rest. Since tlie Lord has thus honoured the 
fourth commandment above the others, by laying 
for it a foundation so singularly broad and deep, is 
it yet to be held in its obligation and import the 
narrowest of them all ? Shall this, strange to think, 
be the only one which did not utter a voice for all 
times and all generations?'^ {Typology of Scripture, 
book iii. chap. ii. sec. iii. pp. Ill, 112, vol. ii.) 

After using this language, how could Dr. Fair- 
bairn say that the ^'Sabbath is a positive institu- 
tion ■?'' Can any words assert its moral character 
more strons^lv than the foUowins; ? ^^ The Lord has 
honoured the fourth commandment above the others, 
bv laying for it a foundation singularly broad and 
deep.'^ 

SECTION III. 

CHANGE OF THE SABBATH FROM THE SEVENTH DAY OF THE 
WEEK TO THE FIRST. 

The morality of the Sabbath does not lie in 
observing the seventh day in order from the crea- 
tion, or in observing any particular day of the 
week ; but in observing such a seventh day, or such 
a proportion of time as God may determine and 
appoint. Hence the day, for important reasons, 
may be changed ; and a great majority of Christians 
say that it has been changed from the seventh day 
of the week to the iirst. 



60" THE SABBATH. 

"The seventh was an important day under the 
Mosaic economy, but various instances occur in 
whicli tlie eighth was honoured. Circumcision, a 
seal of the righteousness of the faith which Abra- 
ham had, yet being uncircumcised, was to be 
administered on the eighth day. On the eighth day 
were tlie first-born of the cattle to be offered to the 
Lord, and tlie slieaf of the first-fruits to be pre- 
sented and accepted. On that day the consecration 
of Aaron and his sons, and the sanctification of the 
temple, were completed. These and similar trans- 
actions were shadows of things to come, but the 
body is of Christ. And where shall we find an 
eighth day signalized by any doings or blessings of 
Christ correspondent with the types except the day 
on which he rose from the dead ? There is one 
typical representation in particular that calls for 
remark. It occurs in EzekiePs vision of the tem- 
ple. That this vision was not realized in the second 
temple appears from, besides other facts, the differ- 
ences in its worship from that prescribed by the 
law of Moses ; and that there will be no literal 
fulfilment of it at a future day, is obvious from 
several considerations, one of which is sufficient, 
and is, that sacrifice is for ever abolished by Christ, 
so that to attempt its revival would be to deny his 
sacrifice. The only supposable accomplishment of ' 
the vision- is in the condition of the Christian 
church. And what is there that fulfils the follow- 
ing prediction, if not the first day of the week and 



THE SABBATK. 61 

its Christian worship? And when these days have 
expired, it shall be, that upon the eighth day and 
so forward, the priest shall make your burnt-offer- 
ings upon the altar, and your peace-offerings ; and 
I will accept you, saith the Lord/^ — Ezekiel xliii. 
21 .—[GiljiUan on the Sabbath, p. 302.) 

As the Sabbath, under the old economy, was the 
seventh day in order from the creation, the day 
specified by the prophet, in the passage quoted, 
must be the eighth in the same order, that is, the 
first day of the week. 

We have then, in the Old Testament, an intima- 
tion that a change of day would be effected. Was 
the change made? We affirm that it was, on the 
ground of the following evidence: 

1. After his resurrection from the dead, our Lord, 
who rose on the first day of the week, appeared to 
the eleven, who were gathered together in Jerusalem, 
on the same day. (Luke xxiv. 33-36.) On two 
other occasions, when the disciples were assembled, 
on the first day of the week, he appeared to them. 
(John XX. 19-26.) 

2. The Holy Spirit was poured out on the day 
of Pentecost, which was the first day of the week. 
(Compare Num. xxviii. 26, with Levit. xxiii. 16.) 

3. The Apostles and early Christians were 
accustomed to meet together for worship on the 
first day of the week. (Acts xx. 7; 1 Corinthians 
xvi. 2.) 

From the first of these passages (Acts xx. 7,) it 



62 THE SABBATH. 

is evident tliat tlic disciples met ordinarily upon 
the first day of the week for hearing the word and 
celebrating the sacrament of the Lord's supper; for 
it is not said that the apostle called them, but that 
they came together to break bread ; and Paul, on 
this occasion, preached to them. Paul, moreover, 
abode with them seven days, as is evident from 
verse 6 ; and yet upon none of the seven days did 
they meet for the breaking of bread, except on the 
first day of the week; which is a clear proof that 
they held it for the Christian Sabbath. 

The argument from 1 Cor. xvi. 2, is: That if 
collections for the poor are expressly commanded to 
be made on the first day of the week, it plainly 
follows that Christians must meet together on that 
day for this and other Sabbath services. That it 
was not a mere temporary precept, binding upon 
the church of Corinth only, is obvious from the 
context and from the introduction to the epistle, in 
which it is expressly affirmed that it was binding 
also upon the churches of Galatia; and that the 
epistle was not addressed to the church of Corinth 
only, but to '^all that in every place call upon the 
name of Jesus Christ our Lord.'' (1 Cor. xvi. 1; 
1 Cor. i. 2.) 

4. In Rev. i. 10, the first day of the week is 
dignified with the title of the "Lord's Day." 

That this was the first day of the week cannot 
be doubted, when we consider that no other day 
but the first can properly be called the Lord's Day, 



THE SABBATH. 63 

and tliat it was afterwards so styled by the early 
Christians.* 

5. The first-day of the week was observed by 
the primitive church as the Christian Sabbath. 

Pliny remarks, in his letter to Trajan, that the 
Christians were accustomed, on a stated day, to 
meet before daylight, and repeat among themselves 
a hymn to Christ as to God, and to bind themselves, 
by a sacred obligation, not to commit any wicked- 
ness. That this stated day was the first day of the 
week, or the Lord's day, is evident from other 
testimony. Indeed, so well known was the custom 
of the early Christians on the subject, that the ordi- 
nary question put by their persecutors to the Chris- 
tian martyrs, was, '^Hast thou kept the Lord's day, 
Dominicum servastif^ To which the usual reply 
was, ^'I am a Christian. I cannot omit it.'^ Chris- 
tianus sum ; intermittere non possum. 

The Rev. Dr. Coleman says: ^^The principal 
season of public worship among the primitive 
Christians was the first day of the week. From 
the time of the apostles, it was customary for the 
disciples of Christ, both in town and country, to 
meet in some common accessible place on the return 
of that day. * * * The high and holy character 
tlie Christians of the primitive ages attached to it, 
is sufficiently indicated by their styling it the Lord's 
day ; and from the glorious event of which it was 

* The Westminster Assembly's Shorter Catechism, ex- 
plained by way of Question and Answer. 



64 THE 8ABBJLTH. 

tiie stated memoria], thcj hailed it as a weekly tes^ 
tivaJ, on which no other sentioieot was Leconiiog 
or lawful but that of unbounded spiritual joj/* 
{CkristioM JMUquitieSj p. 269.) 

Th^e statements are confirmed by the cariie^i 
eoelesiastical authcMities. The author of the £pk- 
tle of Barnabas represents the Lord as speaking in 
this wise: 

''The Sabbaths which you now keep are not 
acceptable to me; but those which I have made; 
when noting fiom all things I shall begin the 
eighth day, that ^ is, the beginning of the other 
world-'' "Wherefore," the writer of the epistle 
adds, "we observe the eighth day with gladness, in 
whidi Jesus rose firom the dead, and having been 
manifested, he asooided into heaven." {BarmabtB 
Epidola XV. p. 40, Stele's PcEtrum Apogtolioomm 
Operom) 

In the same testimony agree Justin Martyr, 
Jgnatius, Athanasius, and iEos^iuSb 

Abundant proof has he&t exhibited to show that 
by the example and autfaoriihr of Christ and his 
apostles the Sabbath was changed from the seventh 
to the fiist day of the week. 

The efficient cause of this diaog^e is me soveir jn 
will of him, who is Lwd of the SnW.th. ?.-A -h'.s 
will was intimated by his own ex 
of his inspired apostles. The moving cause r r^ 
his resurrection fiom the dead. That glorious 
ev^it was demonstzative evidence that he had fin- 



THE SABBATH. 65 

ished the work of redemption, and therefore, the 
day of his resurrection was his resting day. 

In view of the resurrection of Christ on the first 
day of the week, we see a propriety in making it 
the Christian Sal)bath ever afterward; for God's 
rest in the work of creation was marred and spoiled 
by man's sin; but his rest in the work of redemp- 
tion, entered into at the resurrection of Christ, is a 
re^t in which he will have eternal and unchangeable 
pleasure. Besides, redemption being a lar greater 
and more excellent work than creation — being a 
new creation — should be embalmed in our memories 
by the observance of that day which commemorates 
its completion. Our moral nature requires some 
such standing memorial. Does not this account for 
the fact that the Scriptures are so explicit iu regard 
to the day of his resurrection, while they are silent 
as to the day of his birth? The latter was the 
beginning of his days of labour and sorrow; the 
former, of his victory and exaltation. 

The change of the Sabbath from the seventh to 
the fii"st day of the week is a return to the primeval 
day. The first complete day that Adam spent on 
earth was the Sabbath, which must have been to 
him the beginning of the week ; and, on the sup- 
position that the first six days were indefinite 
periods of time, as some geologists affirm, the com- 
putation of time by weeks must have commenced, 
with it. But whether these days were indefinite 
periods, or twenty-four hours each, man's fii*st day 

6* 



66 THE SABBATH. 

ill the world was a Sabbath. Was there not a 
propriety, then, in eomniencing the new world — the 
world redeemed by Christ — with the Sabbath ? Is 
it not a part of his "restitution of all things?" 

SECTION IV. 

THE PERPETUITY OF THE SABBATH. 

The perpetuity of the Sabbath results from its 
moral character. Moral laws, as well as physical, 
which have their foundation in human nature, must, 
by reason of their very relation to that nature, con- 
tinue as long as it continues. That nature, in all 
that is essential to its identity and personality, will 
exist for ever. Hence these laws, in their essential 
features, must have an equal duration. Given the 
relations out of which they arise, their existence 
will run parallel with that of the relations. 

It is not necessary to recapitulate the proof that 
the law of the Sabbath is moral, occupying a place 
in a series of laws universally acknowledged to be 
such. But as it has been asserted by some men of 
high standing in the church, and of merited repu- 
tation, (Dr. McLeod and others of the established 
Church of Scotland,) that not only the fourth com- 
mandment, but the whole decalogue is abrogated, 
we trust a brief consideration of this j^oint will not 
be considered irrelevant to our main design. 

The reason assigned for the opinion that the 
Sabbath is abrogated is the preface of the decalogue, 



THE SABBATH. 67 

"I am tlie Lord thy God, which liave brought thee 
out of tlie hind of Egypt, out of the house of 
bondage.'^ This preface, say the abettors of that 
opinion, makes the decalogue a Jewish law, binding 
upon the Jews only. It was doubtless a special 
reason why they should obey the law of God; but 
it does not follow that other nations were thereby 
exempted from obedience. The argument stated 
logically would stand thus: 

The Israelites were bound to obey the decalogue 
because God brought them out of Egypt. No other 
nation w^as brought by God out of Egypt. There- 
fore no other nation was bound to obey the deca- 
logue. 

The fallacy of the argument, to one acquainted 
with the structure of the syllogism, is obvious at 
the first glance. It is of the same nature with the 
following, the fallacy of which is evident to every 
one : ' 

Such and such garden trees should produce fruit, 
on account of their careful culture. Such and such 
trees are not garden trees having careful culture. 
Therefore such and such trees should produce no 
fruit. 

As well might one argue, because Paul says of 
Christians, " Ye are not your owm, for ye are bought 
with a price ; therefore, glorify God in your body 
and in your spirit, which are God^s,^' therefore sin- 
ners are under no obligation to glorify God in the 
body and in the spirit. 



68 THE SABBATH. 

The decalogue, as to its principles, and probably 
as to its form, is older than the Jewisii nation. It 
was promulgated before the Lord descended upon 
Mount Sinai. The violation of it had been pun- 
ished in the case of the first murderer. Moses 
himself was obliged to {iee from Egypt because he 
had killed an Egyptian. The unconscious violation 
of the seventh commandment, on the part of 
Abimelech, king of Gerar, was punished by God 
long before he proclaimed from the top of the 
burning mountain, ^^Thou shalt not commit adul- 
tery.^^ 

This view is confirmed by the Jews themselves, 
wlio, it seems, had not vanity enough to claim the 
exclusive possession of the moral law. Their 
ancient commentators refer to what they called 
"the statutes of Adam,'' and at other times, "the 
precepts of the sons of Noah," which, according to 
the account of Maimonides, were substantially the 
same with the ten commandments. These com- 
mandments were republished from Mount Sinai, 
and a reason, adapted to the peculiar circumstances 
of the Israelites, assigned for their observance. 

Hitherto it has been argued from the nature of 
moral laws, that they are permanent. Let us now 
adduce the testimony of their Author, and that of 
men whom he inspired to complete his revelation 
as to their perpetuity. 

Christ says, in his sermon on the mount, "Think 
not that I am come to destroy the law, or the 



THE SABBATH. 69 

prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil." 
—Matt. V. 17. 

It is not necessary for our purpose that we under- 
stand the word " law'' in the passage as referring 
exclusively to the decalogue. We may include in 
it the moral, ceremonial, and civil law of the Jews, 
not the least part of which was destroyed, in its 
ultimate idea, by our Saviour, but carried out to its 
full ideal. He came to occupy "the throne of his 
father David," according to its ideal, to " reign over 
the house of Jacob" — the true Israel of God — "for 
ever." The ceremonial laws being typical of him 
and of his work, terminated in him, and of course 
could have no binding force after his expiation for 
sin and ascension to heaven. He fulfilled the cere- 
monial law by presenting himself as the reality, 
which it prefigured. But the moral law having 
nothing typical, or ceremonial, could not be thus 
fulfilled. It must have its fulfilment in a different 
way. Our Saviour came not to destroy, but to 
fulfil it. How, then, did he fulfil it? Hear his 
own explanation: "Ye have heard that it was said 
by them of old time. Thou shalt not kill, and who- 
soever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment; 
but I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with 
his brother without a cause shall be in danger of 
the judgment, and whosoever shall say to his 
brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council; 
but whosoever shall say, thou fool, shall be in 
danger of hell fire. * * * Ye have heard that 



TO 



THE SAIJIJATII. 



it has been .said ])y theni of old time, Thou shalt 
not commit adultery, hut I nay unto you, that who- 
soever looketh ou a woman to lust after her hatli 
committed adultery with her already in his heart." 

Can any exposition be clearer? He gave, in his 
teacliing, to the moral law a breadth, a depth, and a 
com])rehensiveness far exceeding the partial, super- 
ficial, and distorted views of the formalists of that 
age. Our Saviour taught that the law is spiritual, 
and that its meaning cannot be tied down to the 
mere letter of its prohibition. It extends to the 
thoughts and feelings. The man who is angry with 
his brother without a cause, is guilty; he who looks 
on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery 
in his heart. The righteousness of the followers of 
Cin-ist must exceed that of the Scribes and Phari- 
sees, which consisted in externals, if they would 
enter into the kingdom of heaven. If anv of them 
''break one of these least commandments, and teach 
men so,^' they ''shall be called the least in the 
kingdom of heaven, for till heaven and earth pass, 
one jot or one tittle shall in no wise j^ass from the 
law till all be fulfilled.'^ 

We might refer, in this connection, to our 
Saviour's answer to the inquiry of the rich youno- 
man, in which he makes no allusion to the ceremo- 
nial laws, but specifies several of the decalogue. It 
is clearly intimated in this reply that life would 
result from perfect obedience to the moral law, and 
that such was the original condition of life. Of 



THE SABBATH. 71 

eonrsej then, the moral law was not Jewish in its 
origin, but it existed from the very first. It was 
the rule of man's obedience in the garden of Eden. 
AVhen he fell, it was abrogated as a condition of life 
by means of the covenant of grace, but its claims 
still rested upon him until they were met by our 
Substitute upon the cross, when he " magnified the 
law and made it honourable.'^ By his expiation 
our guilt was removed, by the gift of his Holy 
Spirit we are sanctified, brought^into harmony with 
the law, and are enabled to ^^ delight in it after the 
inward man." We do not make void the law 
through faith; yea, we establish the law. 

In conformity with the teaching of our Saviour 
on this point, is that of his apostles. 

Paul says: ^^Owe no man anything, but to love 
one another, for he that loveth another hath fulfilled 
the law. For this, Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt 
not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness. Thou 
shalt not covet, and if there be another command- 
ment it is briefly comprehended in this saying: 
Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love 
worketh no ill to his neighbour; therefore love is 
the fulfilling of the law." There is no doubt here 
as to the law Paul had in his mind, for he quotes 
some of its precepts, which he generalizes into one 
more comprehensive — ^' Thoii shalt love thy neigh- 
bour as thyself" This is a law which shall never 
end ; but it includes in it every precept of the sec- 
ond table, which must therefore remain. In the 



72 THE SABBATH. 

same way docs the Apostle James speak of the 
moral law as being still in force: "If ye fulfil the 
royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt 
love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well ; but if ye 
have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are con- 
vinced of the law as transgressors. For whosoever 
sliall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one 
point, he is guilty of all. For he that said, Do not 
commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if 
tliou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art 
become a transgressor of the law." 

AVe may now, without hesitation, conclude, upon 
the authority of Christ and his apostles, that the 
decalogue was not abrogated with the ceremonial 
law. It is still in force. The teaching of Clirist 
has given it a breadth, which was unknown, except, 
perhaps, to his inspired servants, before his incar- 
nation. In this decalogue the law of the Sabbath 
is found. It is, therefore, still in force. "Remem- 
ber the Sabbath day to keep it holy,'^ still remains 
the hinge of the two tables of the moral law. 

But does not Paul say: "One man esteemeth 
one day above another; another esteemeth every 
day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in 
his own mind. He that regardeth the day regardeth 
it unto the Lord, and he that regardeth not the day, 
to the Lord hQ doth not regard it." — Rom. xiv. 5, 6. 

And, "Ye observe days, and months, and times, 
and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed 
upon you labour in vaxn.^^Gal. iv. 10, H. 



THE SABBATH. 73 

And "Let no man, therefore, judge you in meat 
or in drink, or of the Sabbath days." — Coloss. ii. 16. 

An exegesis of these passages is not necessary to 
our purpose. It can easily be obtained in exegetical 
works (such as Hodge's and Ellicott's) on Paul's 
epistles. That there is no reference to the Christian 
Sabbath is evident for the following reasons : 

1. Paul is speaking of Jewish festivals. His 
argument and the context are not consistent with 
any other exposition. 

2. Paul himself observed the Christian Sabbath, 
(Acts XX. 7,) and enjoined upon Christians to per- 
form a certain duty on that day, which duty, we 
have seen, was neither temporary nor local. See 
page 61. 

3. The early Christians observed the Christian 
Sabbath, (pp. 61, 62,) and between them and Paul, 
so far as negative testimony is worth anything, there 
existed no difference of opinion. 

4. Paul acknowledges the binding authority of 
the moral law, in which the law of the Sabbath is 
included. 

5. The ten commandments were written by the 
hand of God on tables of stone, to indicate their 
durability, and no intimation was ever given that 
the fourth would be erased. 

6. It is distinctly stated, in Deut. x. 4, that there 
are ten commandments, which would not be true if 
the fourth is abrogated. 

7. Isaiah, referring to the present dispensation, 
7 



74 THE SABBATH. 

(Ivi. 2,) says: "Blessed is the man that keepeth the 
Sabbath from polluting it." 

But, it may be asked, if the law of the Saljbath 
is not abrogated, why is there not more explicit 
mention in the New Testament of the duty of 
observing it? For the reason that there was no 
necessity for such mention. Its law Avas found in 
a moral code which is of perpetual obligation. 

SECTION V. 

SUMMARY. 

"We have endeavoured to show — with what suc- 
cess we will leave others to judge — that the Sabbath 
was instituted in Paradise; that it is, as to its sub- 
stance, a moral institution, and as to its substance 
and form a moral-positive institution ; that it has 
been changed from the seventh day of the week to 
the first ; and that it is perpetual. 

These positions, if they have been successfully 
maintained, are directly antagonistic to and subver- 
sive of the following errors, viz: That the Sabbath 
is a Jewish institution, having no existence before 
the promulgation of the law from Mount Sinai ; 
that it has passed away with the Mosaic economy ; 
that its law is positive and not moral ; and that the 
seventh day of the week is the divinely authorized, 
immutable Sabbath. 

The facts of its institution and perpetuity are 
also subversive of the opinion of those who hold 



THE SABBATH. 75' 

all days to be alike common, or alike sacred. If 
the Lord lias " blessed tlie Sabbath day, and hallowed 
it," and allowed us six days for our own employ- 
ments, then all days are not alike common, or alike 
sacred. One day in seven is more sacred than the 
other six, because it is the Lord's day consecrated 
to his service and to the benefit of man. This 
doctrine, that one day in seven is holy to the 
Lord, by his own appointment, is utterly at variance 
with the opinion that the claims of the Sabbath are 
satisfied by the observance of certain canonical 
hours. The whole day must be kept sacred. God 
blessed the Sabbath dai/, not a few hours. 



PAET III. 

THE SANCTIFICATION OF THE SABBATH. 

SECTION I. 

PEELEVIINARY OBSERVATIONS. 

In the record of the original institution of the 
Sabbath we read that " God blessed the seventh day 
and sanctified it/' and in the fourth conamandment 
it is said, "the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and 
hallowed it." 

God's blessing the seventh day — the Sabbath day 
in the fourth commandment — means that he made 
a distinction between it and other days. He made 
it a source of peculiar blessings to man. His sanc- 
tifying it signifies that he set it apart from a common 
to a religious use. 

That which is set apart for such a use, is the day, 
not a few canonical hours. " God blessed the sev- 
enth day and sanctified it." Like other days the 
Sabbath is measured by one revolution of the earth 
on its axis. 

The reasons assigned in the fourth commandment 
for our remembering the Sabbath day to keep it 
holy, are : 

76 



THE SABBATH. 77 

1. God's challenging a special property in the 
Sabbath clay. '^The seventh day is the Sabbath of 
the Lord thy God.'' 

2. His example. " In six days the Lord made 
heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, 
and rested the seventh day." 

3. His blessing the Sabbath day and hallowing 
it. " Wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, 
and hallowed it." 

4. In addition to these expressed reasons there is 
an implied reason, viz. That having six days of 
the week for our own employment, we would be 
both unreasonable and ungrateful, if we refused to 
devote a seventh part of our time to the more 
immediate service and worship of God. 

No other commandment of the decalogue has so 
many reasons expressed and implied for its observ- 
ance, as the fourth. This is itself a proof of the 
great importance that God attaches to the sanctifi- 
cation of the Sabbath. It is also an implication of 
the proneness of men to desecrate the holy day, 
and it renders the violation of it the more inexcu- 
sable. 

The reasons for keeping holy the Sabbath day 
being so numerous and so cogent, the question 
arises, "How is the Sabbath to be sanctified?" 
The answer contained in our Shorter Catechism is 
full and explicit : " The Sabbath is to be sanctified, 
by a holy resting all that day, even from such 
worldly employments and recreations as are lawful 
7* 



78 THE SABBATH. 

on other days, and spending the whole time in the 
public and private exercises of God's worship, 
except so much as is to be taken up in the works 
of necessity and mercy/' 
We are here taught : 

1. That the Sabbath is to be sanctified by a holy 
resting all that day. Exod. xx. 10 — ** In it thou 
shalt not do any work." See, also, Exod. xxxi. 
15; Deut. v. 14; Lev. xxiii. 3. 

2. That we are to abstain from all w^orldly 
employments on the Sabbath. Jer. xvii. 21 — 
"Thus saith the Lord, Take heed to yourselves, and 
bear no burden on the Sabbath day.'' See, also, 
Neh. xiii. 15, 16-22 ; Luke xxiii. 56. 

3. That we are to abstain from recreations and 
pastimes on the Sabbath, although lawful on other 
days. Is. Iviii. 13 — ^^If thou turn away thy foot 
from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my 
holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy 
of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, 
not doing thine ow^n ways, nor finding thine own 
pleasure, nor speaking thine own words." 

4. That the Sabbath is to be employed in the 
public exercises of God's w^orship. Isa. Ixvi. 23 — 
" From one Sabbath to another shall all flesh come 
to worship before me, saith the Lord." 

5. That the Sabbath is to be employed in private 
acts of secret and social worship. Lev. xxiii. 3 — 
" It is the Sabbath of the Lord in all youi' dwell- 
ings." See, also, Ps. xcii. title. . - 



THE SABBATH. 79 

6. That works of necessity are lawful on the 
Sabbath day. Matt. xii. 1 — '^ Jesus went on the 
Sabbath day through the corn ; and his disciples 
were an hungered and began to pluck the ears of 
corn and to eat.'^ See, also, ver. 2-8. 

7. That works of mercy are lawful on the Sab- 
bath day. Luke xiii. 16 — ''Ought not this woman, 
being a daughter of Abraham, wdiom Satan hath 
bound, lo, these eighteen years, to be loosed from 
this bond on the Sabbath day ?'^ See, also. Matt, 
xii. 9-13. — Peterson on the Shorteft" Catechism, pp. 
204, 205. 

These directions are plain, and supported by 
Scriptural authority. But in order to answer the 
question. How is the Sabbath to be sanctified? 
rightly, we must keep distinctly before us the 
objects of the Sabbath. These are to perpetuate 
the knowledge and worship of Jehovah, to promote 
the spiritual, moral, and physical welfare of men. 
How must the day be kept, in order most fully to 
promote these objects ? The answer to this quest! ou 
now claims our attention. 



SECTION II. 

THE SABBATH IS TO BE KEPT IN SUCH A WAY AS TO PER- 
PETUATE THE KNOWLEDGE AND WORSHIP OF JEHOVAH. 

The intimate connection between the sanctification 
of the Sabbath and the preservation of the know- 
ledge of God is plainly intimated in Exodus xxxi. 



80 THE SABBATH. 

13: "Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, 
saying, Verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep, for it is 
a sign between me and you throughout your gener- 
ations, that ye may know that I am the Lord that 
doth sanctify you." 

This knowledge is the most important that -we 
can possess. "This is life eternal, that they might 
know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ 
whom thou hast sent.'^ — John xvii. 3. "For this is 
the covenant that I will make with the house of 
Israel after those days, saith the Lord, I will put 
my laws into their minds, and write them in their 
hearts; and I will be to them a God, and they shall 
be to me a people. And they shall not teach every 
man his neighbour, and every man his brother, 
saying, Know the Lord; for all shall know me from 
the least to the greatest." — Heb. viii. 10, 11. 

To reveal this knowledge clearly and fully, the 
Eternal Word became incarnate. "No man hath 
seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, w^hich 
is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared, 
him." — John i. 18. "In him w^as life, and the life 
was the light of men." — John i. 4. 

To preserve and propagate this knowledge is the 
duty of the church. "Go ye into all the world and 
preach the gospel to every creature." — Mark xvi. 
15. "Ye are the light of the world. * * * Let 
your light so shine before men, that they may see 
your good works and glorify your Father which is 
in heaven." — Matt. v. 14, 16. "Among whom ye 



THE SABBATH. 81 

shine as lights in the world; holding forth the word 
of life/'— Phil. ii. 15, 16. 

To receive this knowledge and to be guided by it 
is the duty of all men. "How long, ye simple 
ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners 
delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge? 
Turn ye at my reproof; behold, I will pour out 
my Spirit unto you, I will make known my words 
unto you." — Prov. i. 22, 23. "Get wisdom, get 
understanding; forget it not, neither decline from 
the words of my mouth.'' — Prov. iv. 5. 

For instruction in this knowledge the Sabbath 
has been graciously given to us. It is called "the 
Sabbath of the Lord thy God ;" his day in a special 
sense, set apart for his worship and the preservation 
of the true religion. For this end it ought to be 
observed. How must we observe it to secure this 
end? 

1. By the diligent and prayerful reading and 
study of God's holy word, the only infallible 
source of divine knowledge. 

Amidst the multiplicity of religious books, papers, 
and periodicals, the Bible is sadly neglected by 
Christians of the present day. For this reason they 
have defective views of divine truth, possessing no 
clear conception of the doctrines that they profess 
to believe, and in too many instances but a feeble 
conviction of their importance, consequently they 
are weak and stunted in spiritual frame and stature, 
and do not attain to the thew and vigour of the 



82 THE SABBATH. 

Bible-reading Christians of the seventeenth century. 
How ap[)licahle to the great majority of Christians 
of this generation are the words of Paul to the 
Hebrews: "For when for the time ye ought to be 
teachers, ye have need that one teach you again 
which be the first principles of the oracles of God, 
and are become such as have need of milk, and not 
of strong meat.'' — Heb. v. 12. In this state of 
spiritual infancy they must continue as long as they 
neglect the careful reading and diligent study of 
the Scripture, which "is profitable for doctrine, for 
reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteous- 
ness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly 
furnished unto all good works." — 2 Tim. iii. 16. 
Let such, then, as desire to grow in divine know- 
ledge and grace, peruse daily the pages of God's 
holy word, let them make it especially their Sab- 
bath book, searching in its inexhaustible mines for 
those riches that endure for ever, seeking from its 
spiritual storehouses the aliment of the soul. Oh 
that men would prize more this 

" Most wondrous book ! bright candle of the Lord ! 
Star of eternity ! the only star 
By which the bark of man could navigate 
The sea of life, and gain the coast of bliss 
Securely ; only star which rose on Time, 
And on its dark and troubled billows still, 
As generation, drifting swiftly by. 
Succeeded generation, threw a ray 
Of heaven's own light, and to the hills of God, 
The everlasting hills, pointed the sinner's eye." 



THE SABBATH. 83 

2. We must observe the Sabbath by a punctual, 
serious, and prayerful attendance upon the institu- 
tions and ordinances of Christ's appointment. 

The great institution which Christ has appointed 
for the instruction of mankind in religion and 
morals, is the church, and the divinely ordained 
ordinances which she employs for this purpose are 
the preaching of the word, the sacraments and 
prayer. 

Of these ordinances Protestants are accustomed 
to assign the first place to preaching. It is certainly 
the most important, but the others are by no means 
to be neglected. "The preacher goes forth as a 
messenger of the King of kings to announce to a 
lost world the tidings of salvation through a risen 
Saviour. He proclaims the one only name given 
under heaven, or among men, whereby they must be 
saved-. He cries aloud and spares not. He urgently 
entreats and fervently beseeches men, as in Christ's 
stead, to be reconciled to God. And to leave them 
without excuse, he reasons of temperance, righte- 
ousness, and a judgment to come.'' 

Differing from every other system of human 
teaching, and rising in its objects superior to any 
unaided conceptions of the human mind, preaching 
aims at the eternal salvation of the souls of men. 
This aim embraces two important elements: 

The conversion of men from error and sin. 

Their instruction and edification in Christian 
truth. 



84 THE SABBATH. 

"Here are objects involving everything of most 
importance to the welfare of the life that now is, 
and of that which is to come ; objects, moreover, «f 
universal necessity. There is no condition of hu- 
manity that does not demand the preaching of the 
gospel. There is no nation it may not exalt. 
There is no soul that does not crave the blessing it 
})roposes to confer. Yet no other agency is so 
adapted to secure that blessing. Philosophy fails, 
learning falls short, and human power is insufficient. 
But the preaching of the Cross proves to be the 
power of God unto salvation, to the Jews first, and 
also to the Gentiles." — Kidder's Homiletics, pp. 
30, 31. 

The sacraments represent to our senses what the 
word represents to oiir faith. They exhibit to us, 
by means of symbols, the great facts of redemption, 
and are admirably fitted to keep alive a knowledge 
of these facts in the world. 

By social prayer we acknowledge, as it is meet 
that we should, all our social and civil blessings to 
be the gift of God. This is one of the most 
important duties of the Sabbath day, and ought to 
be duly observed. 

3. To these public and social exercises of religion 
may be added the instruction of the young in Sab- 
bath schools and in the family, the importance of 
which to the highest interests of the church cannot 
be overestimated. Indeed, the religious training 
of the young forms an important part of the duty 



THE SABBATH. 85 

of every pastor and of every Christian parent. It 
cannot be omitted without great injury to the church. 
The children of believers are the hoj^e of the church. 
It is to them chiefly that it must look for increase. 
Hence it ought to feel the greatest solicitude that 
they be brought ^' up in the nurture and admonition 
of the Lord." 

By the observance of these ordinances the know- 
ledge of God and the true religion are preserved in 
the world. But without the Sabbath it would be 
impossible to preserve these ordinances themselves; 
hence the necessity of devoting part of it to the 
public exercises of God's worship and to the teach- 
ing of religion. This is the principal end of the 
Sabbath ; consequently those who do not consecrate 
part of it to this, use their influence to banish the 
knowledge of God and religion from the earth. 

SECTION III. 

THE SABBATH IS TO BE SANCTIFIED BY ATTENDING TO THE 
PRIVATE EXERCISES OF RELIGION. 

Under the private exercises of religion are 
comprehended secret and family religious duties. 
Secret duties are secret prayer, reading the Scriptures 
by one's self, and other religious books of a devo- 
tional and practical character; meditation upon 
divine things and self-examination. The religious 
duties of the family are family worship, family 
catechizing and conference. 



»6 THE SABBATH. 

Without these private and family exercises of 
religion the public ordinances of the sanctuary 
would be of little avail. The mind and heart of 
the hearer would be in a condition unfavourable to 
the reception of the preached word and out of 
harmony with the solemn duties of the house of 
God. He could not adopt the language of the 
Psalmist: ''As the hart panteth after the water 
brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. 
My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God : 
when shall I come and appear before God ?'' Ps. 
xlii. 1, 2. "How amiable are thy tabernacles, O 
Lord of hosts! My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth 
for the courts of the Lord : my heart and my flesh 
crieth out for the living God." Ps. Ixxxiv. 1, 2. It 
is in the hours of private devotion, when the joys 
of salvation fill his heart, that the Christian can 
say: "One thing have I desired of the Lord, that 
will I seek after ; that I may dwell in the house of 
the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the 
beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple." 
Ps. xxvii. 4. 

On the other hand, the services of the sanctuary 
fit the Christian for the duties of the closet, just as 
conversation fits a man for solitude. If he has 
been a diligent and devout hearer, he carries home 
with him food for the soul. Subjects for meditation 
and prayer have been suggested to him ; and mo- 
tives for increased activity and zeal have been pre- 
sented to his mind. Thus the public and private 



THE SABBATH. 87 

exercises of religion act and react upon one another, 
the one forming a preparation for the other. 

The cause of the dwarfish spiritual stature of so 
many Christians may be found in their neglect of 
private, personal religion on the holy Sabbath. 
They may plead some excuse for such neglect on 
other days, when they are engaged in secular affairs; 
but they cannot find any excuse on the Lord's day. 
One of its main objects is to promote the spiritual 
interests of man ; and if we do not employ it for 
that purpose^ we do not use it in conformity with 
its design. Were it more faithfully spent in read- 
ing God's holy \vord, in self-examination; in prayer 
for deeper repentance, for stronger faith, for a 
brighter hope, for growth in all the graces of the 
Spirit, for strength to discharge our duty, for a 
blessing upon the public ordinances of the sanctuary, 
for the triumph of Christ's kingdom, we would not 
find so many that are weak and sickly among us, 
so many that sleep. We would not hear so fre- 
quently the mournful complaint: 

"What peaceful hours I once enjoyed! 
How sweet their memory still ! 
But they have left an aching void, 
The world can never fill." 

But Christians would be strengthened wdth might 
by the S})irit in the inner man; Christ would dwell 
in their hearts by faith; they w^ould be rooted and 
grounded in love, "able to comprehend with all 



88 THE SABBATH. 

saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, 
and height, and to know the love of Christ, wliich 
passeth knowledge.'^ Eph. iii. 16-19. Their 
song would be : 

"The men of grace have found 
Glory begun below ; 
Celestial fruits on earthly ground, 
From faith and hope" may grow. 

" The hill of Zion yields 

A thousand sacred sweets, 
Before we reach the heavenly fields, 
Or walk the golden streets. 

" Then let our songs abound, 
And every tear be dry ; 
We're marching through Immanuel's ground, 
To fairer worlds on high." 

Not less important than the private exercises of 
religion are the religious duties of the family on 
the Sabbath. These, we have already stated, are 
family W'Orship and catechizing, together w^ith reli- 
gious conference. It is certainly eminently fit and 
becoming for all that are united in the domestic 
relation, or who are dwelling in the same house and 
family, to join in singing God's praise, in reading 
his word, in studying its doctrines, in applying 
them, and in praying to their Father in heaven. 
Besides the propriety of such exercises, there is ex- 
press w'arrant for them in the word of God. The 
commandments, the statutes, and the judgments 



THE SABBATH. 89 

which the Lord commanded the Israelites, they 
were commanded to teach diligently unto their 
children, to talk of them when sitting in their 
houses, when walking by the way, when lying 
down, and when rising up. Deut. vi. 7. Men 
are exhorted to pray everywhere with all prayer 
and supplication ; surely then and by necessary con- 
sequence in the family. Eph. vi. 18 ; 1 Tim. ii. 8. 
And the prophet prays to Jehovah to pour his fury 
upon the heathen that do not know him and upon 
the families that call not on his name. Jer. x. 25. 

We have, moreover, examples of family religion 
recorded in Scripture for our imitation. Abraham 
commanded his children and his household after 
him, that they should keep the way of the Lord, 
to do justice and judgment. Gen. xviii. 19. 
Joshua resolved for himself and his house to serve 
the Lord. Josh. xxiv. 15. David blessed his 
household. 2 Sam. vi. 20. Cornelius feared God 
with all his house. Acts x. 2. 

In view of these precepts and examples are not 
Christian families, who neglect family religion, 
greatly remiss in duty? How can they expect the 
blessing of Him who has enjoined upon parents to 
teach diligently unto their children his command- 
ments, his statutes, and his judgments? This duty 
cannot be delegated to Sabbath-schools. They 
were never designed to supersede family instruction, 
though, in many instances they have done so. 
They should be used merely as auxiliaries: the 



90 THE SABBATH. 

parents should be the teachers ami guides of their 
household, and for the performance of this duty 
Grod ^ill hold them responsible. 

The discharge of this duty is a constant thin^'. 
Children are to be trained op, brought up from 
childhood, in the nurture and admonition of the 
Lord. Eph. vi. 4. This dc»e5 not hinder, but 
rather falls in \nth their special training on special 
occasions. Xo occasion can be so favourable to 
special religious instruction and training as the 
Sabbath, which we are commanded to observe in 
all our dwellings. Levit. xxiii. 3. 

SECTION IV. 

THE SABBATH 15 TO BE SA>rCTrFII3) BT BODELY KEST, A5T) 
BT rSTTEEMITnXG SUCH rSTEUUSCTUAI. TJtFUOiYMXSTS AS 

ABB IfOT rvrvrFDIATELY COXSTCTED TTITH THE SZBTICIS 
OP BTTT.T&IOy. 

The advantages of the Sabbath as a day of rest 
have been already considered. In confirmation of 
these advantages we quoted the testimony of the 
late John Eichard Farre, M. D., of London, before 
the British House of Commons, with reference to 
the effects of labouring seven days in the week, 
compared with those of labouring only six and 
resting one. We will repeat part of that testimony 
and make an additional quotation: 

*^ As a day of rest,^' says the Doctor, ^* I view it 
[the Sabbath] as a day of compensation for the 



THE SABBATH. 91 

inadequate restorative joower of the body under 
continued labour and excitement. * * 

I consider, therefore, that in the bountiful provision 
of Providence for the preservation of human life, 
the Sabbatical appointment is not, as it has been 
sometimes theologically viewed, simply a precept 
partaking of a political institution, but that it is to 
be numbered among the natural duties, if the pres- 
ervation of life be admitted to be a duty, and the 
premature destruction of it to be a suicidal act/' 
— Sabbath Manual, pp. 35, 36. 

Admitting the preservation of life to be a duty 
and its premature destruction to be a suicidal act, 
the Sabbath ought to be observed in such a way as 
to preserve life and prevent premature destruction, 
by making it a day of compensation for the ^^inade- 
quate restorative power of the body under continued 
labour and excitement.'' For this end w^e must 
abstain from all bodily labour, except such as works 
of necessity, mercy, and piety require, and seek 
such a measure of physical rest as is consistent with 
the faithful discharge of the private and pnblic 
duties of religion. Of that measure, each man's 
conscience, enlightened by the word of God, must 
be the judge. 

In strict conformity with the physiological rea- 
sons for resting on the Sabbath is the Divine com- 
mandment, which requires us to cease from labour 



92 THE SABBATH. 

on that lioly day, even in earing-time and In harvest 
— seasons when labour is most urgent. 

The command applies to the mind as well as to 
the body. Those who are eniraged in intellectual 
pursuits require periodical relaxation as well as 
those who are employed in manual labour. If they 
do not avail them^elv^es of it, their minds soon lose 
their vigour and elasticity, and sink into premature 
decay. Besides, the duties of religion render it 
necessary to interrupt the regular routine of thought 
for the contemplation of spiritual things. These 
refresh the wearied mind as the waters of the foun- 
tain refresh the thirsty traveller in the desert. 

The effects of both bodily and mental labour on 
the Sabbath may be seen in some ministers of 
religion, whose arduous duties do not allow them, 
as they think, any relaxation to recover their ex- 
hausted energies. Engrossed, during the week, in 
parochial duties and in preparation for the pulpit, 
obliged, sick or well, to preach twice every Sabbath, 
failure of health and temporary retirement from the 
active duties of the ministry, if not complete ex- 
haustion and premature death, must be the necessary 
result. To prevent this it is necessary for them to 
enjoy, during the week, an equivalent for the Sab- 
bath, on which the duties of their vocation call 
them to labour. With this periodical rest their 
health will be preserved, their term of life prolonged, 
and their usefulness increased. 

Some advocate for those who have been confined 



THE SABBATH. 93 

at hard labour during the week, especially in facto- 
ries, the opening of art-galleries, the frequenting of 
beer-gardens, and pleasure excursions on the Sab- 
bath. It is argued that such tilings, and the fresh 
air and scenery of the country, contribute to cheer- 
fulness and health. Others, perceiving the incon- 
gruity between the sanctity of the Sabbath and such 
amusements, apologize for them, on the ground that 
if the labouring masses do not indulge in them they 
will indulge in something worse. It is merely a 
choice between two evils — a greater and a less. 
The former ignore the religious obligation to ob- 
serve the Sabbath; the latter, admitting it, and 
assuming that it must be violated in one way or 
other, think that it is better to violate it decei>tly 
than indecently. 

'No man, who has a right understanding of the 
ends for which the Sabbath was instituted, ^jan, for 
a moment, countenance such views. The spiritual 
ends of the Sabbath are the first and most important; 
its physiological and sanitary ends are secondary 
and subordinate. The first transcend thr second as 
far as the soul transcends the body. Being an 
institution principally designed for preserving the 
knowledge of God and the true religion in the 
world, and for the special culture of man'o spiritual 
nature, it ought to be observed in such a way as 
best to secure these objects. That this can be best 
done by pleasure excursions, picture-gallerijs, public 
amusements and beer-gardens^ would require g qoh 



^4 THE SABBATH. 

siderable degree of audacity to a.s.sert. Moreover, 
cheerfulness is best promoted by obedience to the 
laws of our spiritual and moral nature; and as the 
laws of the body never conflict with these laws, the 
pursuit of health is always consistent with the 
highest interests of our being. 

The instances of best lieakh and longevitv, other 
things being equal, are among those who walk in 
the path of the Divine commandments, in the keep- 
ing of which there is great reward. The wicked 
do not live out half their days; for, as a general 
thing, the violation of the laws of our moral being 
carries along with it the violation of the laws of 
our physical being. In perfect obedience to moral 
law, therefore, do we find perfect safety and perfect 
harmony. All the elements of our highest develop- 
ment, both physical and spiritual, meet in doincr 
the will of God. 



SECTION V. 

THE DUTY OF THE STATE WITH REEEliEXCE TO THE SA.XC- 
TIFICATIOX OF THE SABBATH. 

" How far any government has a right to inter- 
fere in matters touching religion has been a subject 
much discussed by writei-s upon public and political 
law. The right and the duty of the interference 
of government in matters of religion have been 
maintained by many distinguished "authors, as well 
by those who were the warmest advocates of free 



THE SABBATH. 95 

governments as by those Avho were attached to 
governments of a more arbitrary character. Indeed, 
tlie right of a society or government to interfere in 
matters of religion will hardly be contested by any 
person who believes that piety, religion, and mo- 
rality are intimately connected with the well-being 
of the state, and indispensable to the administration 
of civil jjpstice. The promulgation of the great 
doctrines of religion, the being, and attributes, and 
providence of one Almighty God; the responsibility 
to him for all our actions, founded upon moral 
accountability; a future state of rewards and pun- 
ishments; the cultivation of all the personal, social, 
and benevolent virtues ; — these never can be a mat- 
ter of indifference in any well-ordered community. 
It is, indeed, difficult to conceive how any civilized 
society can well exist without them. And, at all 
events, it is impossible for those who believe in the 
truth of Christianity, as a Divine revelation, to 
doubt that it is the especial duty of government to 
foster and encourage it among all the citizens and 
subjects. This is a point wholly distinct from that 
of the right of private judgment in matters of 
religion, and of the freedom of public worship 
according to the dictates of conscience. 

"The real difficulty lies in ascertaining the limits 
to which government may rightfully go in fostering 
and encouraging religion. Three cases may easily 
be supposed : One where a government affi)rds aid 
to a particular religion, leaving all persons free to 



96 THE SABBATH. 

adopt any other; another, where it creates an eccle- 
siastical establishment for the propagation of the 
doctrines of a particular sect of that religion, leav- 
ing a like freedom to all others; and a third, where 
it creates such an establishment, and excludes all 
persons not belonging to it, either wholly or ia 
part, from any participation in the public honours, 
trusts, emoluments, privileges, and immunities of 
the state. For instance, a government may simply 
declare that the Christian religion shall be the 
religion of the state, and shall be aided and 
encouraged in all the varieties of sects belonging to 
it; or, it may declare that the Roman Catholic or 
Protestant religion shall be the religion of the 
state, leaving every man to the free enjoyment of 
his own religious opinions; or, it may establish the 
doctrines of a particular sect, as exclusively the 
religion of the state, tolerating others to a limited 
extent, or excluding all not belonging to it from all 
public honours, trusts, emoluments, privileges, and 
immunities. 

*' Probably, at the adoption of the Constitution, 
and of the amendment to it now under considera- 
tion, the general, if not the universal, sentiment in 
America was, that Christianity ought to receive 
encouragement from the state, so far as such en- 
couragement was not incompatible vrith the private 
rights of conscience and the freedom of religious 
w^orship. An attempt to level all religions, and to 
make it a matter of state policy to hold all in utter 



THE SABBATH. 97 

indifference, would have created universal disap- 
]3robation, if not universal indignation.'' {Familiar 
Exposition of the Constitution of the United States, 
by Joseph Story, LL.D., pp. 260, 261.) 

" Chancellor Kent declares that the Constitution 
of the State of JSTew York never meant to with- 
draw religion in general, and with it the best 
sanctions of moral and social obligation, from all 
consideration and notice of the law." 

" When Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, he 
used this language : ' No government among any 
of the polished nations of antiquity, and none of 
the institutions of modern Europe, (a single and 
monitory case excepted,) ever hazarded such a bold 
experiment upon the solidity of the public morals, 
as to permit with impunity, and under the sanction 
of their tribunals, the general religion of the com- 
munity to be openly insulted and defamed. The 
very idea of jurisprudence with the ancient law- 
givers and philosophers embraced the religion of 
the country.' So, he argues, it can be no less with 
us, for we are a Christian people, and the morality 
of the country is deeply engrafted upon Chris- 
tianity." {Tlie Hebrew Latvgiver, by Rev. J. M. 
Lowrie, D. D., vol. ii., pp. 56, 57.) 

To the same purport might be quoted the opin- 
ions of many other celebrated jurists. 

These views are sound and judicious. Religion 
can never be a matter of indifference in any well- 
ordered community. It is essential to the well- 



98 THE SABBATH. 

being of a state, and, consequently, its institutions 
should be honoured and protected by civil authority. 
Tlie Divine justice being the ground of human law, 
all legislation should proceed upon the belief of 
the "being, attributes, and providence of one Al- 
mighty God; of our responsibility to him for all 
our actions;" and of "a future state of rewards and 
punishments;" and whatever tends to weaken this 
belief should be reprobated. "The fairest and 
most excellent preamble to all laws," says Plato, 
"is, that the gods not only are, but that they are 
also good, and that, moreover, they have an esteem 
for justice beyond anything that is felt among men." 
"That such views," says Cicero, "are useful and 
necessary, who will deny, when he reflects how 
many things must be confirmed by an oath, how 
much safety there is in those religious rites that 
pertain to the solemnization of contracts, how many 
the fear of Divine punishment keeps back from 
crime; in short, how sacred and holy a thing society 
becomes when the immortal gods are constantly 
presented (in the law) both as judges and witnesses." 
[Plato against the Atheists, Tayler Lewises edition, 
pp. 110, 111.) 

Obedience to moral law, whether on the part of 
the state or of the individual, is the only condition 
of safety. Every violation brings a recoil, which 
is prophetic of final destruction. The process of 
destruction, at first, may be slow and scarcely per- 
ceptible; but every step will prepare for another 



THE SABBATH. 99 

with accelerated speed, until ruin will come upon 
the wings of the whirlwind. Then repentance will 
be in vain: the transgressor will reap a harvest of 
woe. That this is the doom of both individuals 
and nations that continue in the transgression of 
God's law, both his word and providence give 
ample confirmation. It should, then, be esteemed 
a matter of the highest moment, in every well- 
ordered community, to protect, by every proper 
means, the Divine law from infraction, and to foster 
the institutions of religion as the only sure and 
effectual means of promoting social prosperity and 
happiness. The state, of course, cannot enforce 
religious duties, which, if acceptably performed, 
must be voluntary ; but it can remove all hinderances 
to the performance of them, and afford that encour- 
agement to the discharge of them which their per- 
manent importance and beneficent influence deserve. 

Not only has the state power to do this, but it is 
its duty to do it — a duty which fidelity to its trust 
requires it to discharge. But would not the state, 
in this case, intrude on the province of religion? 
AYould it not practically unite the ecclesiastical 
and the civil ? We may ask, in turn, is the state 
absolved from all religious obligation ? Is the state 
atheistic ? or Is it, at best, delstic ? Very few, except 
atheists and infidels would answer in the affirmative. 

But the true ground on which to base Sabbath 
legislation, on the part of the state, is, in my opin- 
io'!, thpt l\iQ Sabbath is not only a religious^ but 



100 THE SABBATH. 

also a natural institution. Its Jaw has its founda- 
tion in our physical, intellectual, and moral consti- 
tution ; and consequently the observance of that 
law is necessary to bodily health, good order, and 
public morals. Obedience to it is obedience to the 
law of our nature. As such — as a natural institu- 
tion — the state has a perfect right to enjoin the 
observance of the Sabbath, and to punish the viola- 
tion of it as dangerous to the best interests of 
society. Omitting this, it fails in duty. 

It is acknowledged by all that the state has the 
power, and that it is its duty to enact and enforce 
sanitary measures ; to found educational establish- 
ments; to foster and protect every thing that has for 
its object the moral, intellectual, and social eleva- 
tion of the people. It is not enough for the state 
to punish crime : it ought to devise and put in 
operation means and agencies to prevent it. What 
better preventive can be devised than a sober and 
decent observance of the Sabbath ? What institu- 
tion tends so much to promote all that is beautiful 
and orderly in domestic and social life? What 
tends more to preserve health, to prolong life, to 
encourage industry, and cultivate every moral 
virtue? Statistics have already been quoted to 
show that men who observe the Sabbath as a day 
of rest are more healthy, more moral, more orderly, 
and perform more work, than those who spend it 
in labour. Still greater is the contrast between 
those who "rest according to the commandment,^' 



THE SABBATH. 101 

and those who make it a day of amusement and 
dissipation. By the latter, released from their usual 
employments, it is made an occasion of debauchery 
and drunkenness. It would be better for tlie pub- 
lic and for themselves if they were compelled to 
work during the whole week. This assertion is 
fully sustained by the operation of the ^'Sunday 
Clause in the Excise Law" of New York. This 
clause reads as follows : 

" All persons as herein provided shall keep the 
places at which they are so licensed to keep, sell, 
give, and dispose of strong and spirituous liquors, 
Avines, ale, and beer, orderly and quiet, and between 
the hours of twelve o'clock at night and sunrise, 
and on Sundays, completely and effectually closed. 
Nothing herein contained shall be construed ta 
prevent hotels from receiving and otherwise enter- 
taining the travelling public upon Sundays, subject 
to the restrictions contained in this section." 

Under the operation of this clause, the following 
results have been obtained. 

Number of arrests for intoxication and disorderly conduct: 
On three Sundays in January 1866, under the old sys- 
tem : 266 

On three Sundays in January 1867, under the new law. 130 

Net reduction 136 

On four Sundays in February 1866, under the old sys- 
tem 402 

On four Sundays in February 1867, under the new law. 320 

Net reduction 82 

9 * 



102 THE SABBATU. 

On four Sundays in Mardi 180G, under tlie old system.. 474 
On four Sundays in March 1SG7, under the new law 258 

Net reduction 216 

On four Sundays in April 1866, under the old system.... 584 

On four Sundays in Aj>ril 1867, under the new system... 300 

Ket reduction 284 

Total reduction on 15 Sundays in 1867 718 

"The Metropolitan Police authorities declare 
that, during the same period, their work on Sunday 
has been diminished one half. Nor is this all. 
The decrease of drunkenness and crime implies also 
a decrease of pauperism and taxation. An effective 
check upon rowdyism and vice on Sundays makes 
its influence felt through the whole week, saves to 
the labouring man his hard earnings, and adds to 
the comfort and happiness of his family. 

"Many have already been converted to the Excise 
Law by these practical arguments. A German 
working-man, who used to spend his Sundays in 
the beer saloons, on being asked recently, on a 
Monday, how he felt, replied : ' Very well ; I have 
no headache to-day, and no black eyes. I have 
my pocket full of money, and can comfortably 
support my family during the week.' A large 
German manufacturer says, that since the enforce- 
ment of the Excise Law, his employes come to the 
shop early on Monday morning, in good health and 
spirits, while before the}' came late, half drunk and 
unfit for w^ork. At first, they abused the law, but 
now they feel the benefit and are contented with it. 



THE SABBATH. 103 

All the cliurches are gainers by such a state of 
things. The superintendent of the New York City 
Mission and Tract Society states, that Hhis law is 
sending men by the score to our mission stations 
who never came before.'^'* 

Legislation so beneficial in its results cannot fail 
to commend itself to every unprejudiced person. 
It is strange how any one, with the facts before 
him and with the opportunity of observation, can 
oppose legislation requiring the orderly and decent 
observance of the Sabbath. 

But it is said all men do not observe the same 
day as the Sabbath. The Jews and a few profess- 
ing Christians observe Saturday. Mohammedans 
keep Friday. Hence, if the state enjoin the obser- 
vance of any particular day, it does not respect the 
rights of conscience; and if it visit with penalty 
the infraction of its ordinance, it violates these 
rights. 

The objection, if admitted, would lead to this 
absurd conclusion, that the state must not legislate 
with reference to any nioral or religious institution 
concerning the moral and religious character of 
which men differ in opinion. Some consider polyg- 
amy to be right: must the state, then, decline to 
legislate concerning marriage? The Thugs of 
India believe murder to be right : should any of 

* The Tenth Year of the New York Sabbath Committee, 
with a sketch of its History from 1857 to 1867, pp. 22, 23, 
Document No. XXXIV. 



104 THE SABBATH. 

them emigrate to our shores, ought our government, 
out of respect to their oj)inion, to repeal the law 
against murder? The Hindoo mother considers it 
a religious act to cast her child into the Ganges : 
should a Christian government frame laws in 
accordance with her perverted religious sentiment, 
and suffer infanticide to go unpunished ? 

We are a Christian nation, and our legislation 
should be in harmony with the principles of Chris- 
tianity. These principles, so far as they relate 
directly to legislation, are contained in the Deca- 
logue, every law. of which is of binding authority 
and cannot be set aside. 

But does not the Fourth Commandment of the 
Decalogue enjoin the observance of the seventh day 
as a Sabbath — the very day observed as such by the 
Jews and some Christians ? It does. But nearly 
all Christendom believes, for sufficient reasons, that 
the Sabbath, after the resurrection of Christ, was 
changed from the seventh day of the week to the 
first; and that this change is to continue until the 
end of the world. Those who keep the seventh 
day do not violate any positive command, but they 
do not conform to the example of the Apostles and 
of the primitive church. That example nearly 
all Christians consider binding : hence they feel it 
to be a duty to abstain from all secular employments 
on the first day of the week, and to spend it as a 
day of holy rest. Consequently they are excluded 
from all public works and service that require a 



THE SABBATH. 105 

violation of the Christian Sabbath, and denied an 
equality of rights with Jews and infidels. Should 
such a thing exist in a Christian land ? 

But it may be asked, would not the Jew be 
denied equality of rights by legislation protecting 
the Christian Sabbath and ignoring the Jewish? 
The answer is : AYe are not a Jewish, but a Chris- 
tian nation ; therefore, our legislation must be con- 
formed to the institutions and spirit of Christianity. 
This is absolutely necessary from the nature of the 
case. A Christian nation cannot, without the 
greatest wrong to itself, ignore Christianity, or 
place it on a level with Judaism, Mohammedanism, 
and infidelity. Christianity is the salt of the earth 
— the great conservative principle of all that is 
good and holy in the world ; and the Sabbath is 
the great conservator of Christianity. 

Let us, then, preserve the Sabbath. Our highest 
interests require it. Our duty to ourselves as a 
Christian people, and to the many foreigners, who 
seek a home among us, demands it. Unless we are 
faithful in maintaining the institutions of Chris- 
tianity our glory will depart; "for the nation and 
kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish ; yea, 
those nations shall be utterly wasted.'' Is. Ix. 12. 

"What true heart loves not the Sabbath ? 
That dear pledge of home ; 
That trysting-place of God and man ; 
That link between a near eternity and time ; 
That almost lonely rivulet, which flows 
From Eden through the world's wide wastes of sand 



106 THE SABBATH. 

Unchecked, and, though not unalloyed with eanh, 
Its healing waters all irapregned with life, 
The life of their first blessing, to pure lips 
The memory of a by-gone paradise, 
The earnest of a paradise to come." 



SECTION VI. 

CONCLUDING REMARKS. 

The subject of Sabbath sanctification is one of 
great practical importance, and affords of itself a 
theme for an extended treatise. The discussion of 
it in this little volume is necessarily limited: its 
main objects and points have only been indicated. 
The general heads, under which the special duties 
may be ranged, have been given. 'The devout 
mind, with the Bible for his guide and the Holy 
Spirit for his teacher, can determine for himself the 
details of duty appropriate to himself in his pecu- 
liar circumstances. The obligation of moral law is 
universal and permanent, but the mode of dis- 
charging that obligation is often affected by the 
condition and relations of the individual. Hence 
the application of general principles to specific 
cases would lead to much tedious detail. For this 
reason the author has confined himself to the dis- 
cussion of general topics, which, however meagre 
the discussion may be, are sufficiently comprehen- 
sive. 



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